Hair regenerative medicine

Shiseido has been collaborating with University Hospitals on a clinical study on the establishment of “hair regenerative medicine technology” in Japan. This technology is the world’s leading technology in hair regeneration. After culturing dermal sheath cup cells (which are considered to be the source of hair dermal papilla cells which play an important role in the growth of hair) from the scalp skin of the patient concerned about pattern baldness and thinning hair, they are implanted (injected) into the balding scalp skin to rejuvenate damaged hair follicles as well as promote the growth of healthy hair.^*
Regenerative medicine refers to the treatment method in which tissue/cells of human origin are implanted into patients who cannot be treated by existing methods, with the expectation of self-renewing capability. There are two types of implantation: “autologous cell implantation” in which the cells of the relevant patient are utilized and “allogeneic cell implantation” in which the cells of other people are utilized. The technology Shiseido is working on is autologous cell implantation technology, which is considered to have fewer side effects regarding immune rejection, etc. and higher safety than allogeneic cell implantation.
With regard to pattern baldness and thinning hair, presently a hair growth/regrowth agent for external application and oral treatment agent with an androgen suppression effect are put into practice. However, there are some issues, such as the facts that topical dosage is limited for females and oral treatment agents are not applicable to female patients. The introduction of this technology is expected to lesson the physical burden caused by surgical procedures, reduce rejection reaction risks after cell implantation, and be applicable to all patients regardless of gender. Thus, concerned persons look forward to the technology being widely utilized as soon as possible.
Safety level and improvement effects were confirmed in a clinical study conducted by Tokyo Medical University and other university institutes from 2016 to 2019 using our autologous cell culture processing technology.
Currently a further clinical study is being carried out aiming at practical application.