Cure to baldness? US pharma declares "milestone"

Alopecia or baldness is considered to be an incurable disease. However, researchers from Concert Pharmaceuticals, a U.S. based pharmaceutical company announced the discovery of an elixir to make the impossible happen.

The pharmaceutical company announced the sighting, during their phase three trials of the wonder drug. In a statement to the New York Post, it said the twice-daily pill, also known as CTP-543 would be an 'important milestone' in the treatment of receding hairline and balding, to which there's currently no cure.

Their statement also informed that in their latest trial, 706 patients with baldness were selected for 24 weeks. These people, residents of United States, Canada and Europe were between the ages of 18 and 65. On an average the patients only had 16 percent of their hair at the initiation of the trial, with zero percent having more than 50 percent hair.

Bald patients were divided into three groups. One group was given two doses of 8 mg a day, the second group was given two doses of 12 mg pills, and the third group was given a placebo. Compared to those who were given placebo, those who have been given medicines witnesses 'significant growth' of hair.

Side effects such as headache and acne were observed in some of the patients who took part in the test. However, the pharmaceuticals group informed that the drug was well tolerated and only a minor, 5 percent of the patients complained of headaches, acne and infections.

After repeating the phase three trial again on 517 people again, the company hopes to apply to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the U.S. drug regulatory body, for approval next year.