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Among newer companies involved in trying to cure hair loss, Amplifica (US) is particularly interesting. It was co-founded in 2020 by Dr. Maksim Plikus and Dr. William Rassman, both of whom I have covered many times before. The company\u2019s two main areas of product development involve hairy mole related protein osteopontin and the SCUBE3<\/a> signaling molecule. The top half of this post has the most recent updates<\/span>.<\/p>\n Update: August 12, 2026<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Amplifica is still alive. It just raised $26 million<\/a> in a Series B Preferred Stock financing round. Of particular note, one of the investors is Eli Lilly (US), which also invested in Absci<\/a> (US) earlier this year.<\/p>\n Note that when I originally wrote this post in 2022, Amplifica completed a $11.8 million Series A Financing round. Scroll till the bottom of this post to read about that development.<\/p>\n Update: August 26, 2025<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Amplifica just published 5-month results of a 61-person trial<\/a> of AMP-301, described as a novel polysaccharide. I think this is the same trial whose results were covered last year (see my September 2024 update below)? The male subjects (all aged 18-45) with mild to moderate androgenetic alopecia (Norwood III-IV) were divided into two groups:<\/p>\n They all received AMP-303 injections on one side of the scalp in 20 frontotemporal locations, and saline injections on the other side. For the Group 1 responders, the mean increase in nonvellus hair count was 14.5% and it peaked at 60 days. The results remained significantly greater than saline through 5 months.<\/p>\n AMP-303 showed durability of effect with 1 injection cycle and led to hair terminalization. Unfortunately, nothing is said about the Group 2 responders who had been balding for 10 years or longer.<\/p>\n Update: September 30, 2024<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Amplifica\u2019s AMP-303 Phase 1 trial results<\/a> have come out, and it is very good news.<\/p>\n \u201cA statistically significant percentage of study subjects showed a greater than 15%<\/strong> increase in non-vellus hair count from baseline compared to placebo at 60 days post-treatment, and a greater than 10%<\/strong> increase compared to placebo at 150 days post-treatment.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Moreover, there were no major safety issues from the intradermal injections, and just a single AMP-303 treatment cycle increased non-vellus hair count. In addition, the increase in hair density and thickness was sustained over time (150 days post treatment).<\/p>\n Best of all, the results demonstrated AMP-303\u2019s ability to transition vellus hairs into non-vellus hairs. This implies not just hair thickening, but also the far more difficult hair loss reversal.<\/p>\n Update: July 12, 2023<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n An interesting take in Wired magazine<\/a> on this same hairy mole (aka nevi) and hair growth research. They connect it to the well known phenomenon of dormant senescent cells and aging.<\/p>\n Update: June 28, 2023<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Amplifica just announced that it started clinical trials<\/a> for its lead candidate AMP-303. The first human subject was given a dose on June 27, 2023 and the study will finish in the first quarter of 2024. According to CEO Frank Fazio:<\/p>\n \u201cAside from assessing AMP-303 in subjects with androgenetic alopecia, this study will serve as a strong foundation for subsequent clinical studies with Amplifica\u2019s pipeline compounds.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n We already know at least three compounds or molecules that they will likely test in clinical trials (with more to come):<\/p>\n Update: June 21, 2023<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n I previously (see bottom of this post) covered Amplifica and its hairy mole research. The company\u2019s founder Dr. Plikus and his research team discovered that a molecule called osteopontin is primarily what makes hairy moles grow hair.<\/p>\n Morover, this molecule can induce hair follicle growth when administered anywhere on the skin. The initial work was on mice, but the company plans to begin human clinical trials later this Summer<\/a> per the latest update from today in Insider magazine. Dr. Plikus believes that this compound:<\/p>\n \u201cCould be needled into the scalp of balding men and women to reawaken hair follicles that have gone dormant, in a near-painless Botox-like procedure.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The treatment and trials will likely involve a combination of osteopontin and some other, newly-discovered hair-growing proteins that Plikus and his team have found. The Insider article implies that the other molecule will be SCUBE3 (already tested via microinjections<\/a> in mice).<\/p>\n The team\u2019s latest findings in relation to hairy moles and osteopontin were published in Nature magazine: Signalling by senescent melanocytes hyperactivates hair growth<\/a>.<\/p>\n The study describes the essential role that the osteopontin and CD44 molecules play in activating hair growth inside hairy skin nevi. In addition to these two molecules, the team thinks it is likely that their continued research will identify additional potent hair growth activators. Make sure to read the UC Irvine report<\/a> of these findings.<\/p>\n Interestingly, Dr. Plikus says that this Nature publication is the result of nearly 10 years of research by an international team of scientists. The most encouraging quote of all from Dr. Plikus:<\/p>\n \u201cIt will grow like you remember it when you were 18. It would not grow like thickened, wiry armpit hair. This burst of molecules is shown to hair follicles on a scalp, and they\u2019re like, \u2018Oh, OK. Time to grow!’\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Update:<\/strong> In an interview with DermWire<\/a>, Dr. Plikus says that the osteopontin-based compound highlighted in the Nature publication is designated as AMP-203 at Amplifica.<\/p>\n Note that I previously covered osteopontin in a number of my posts on Follicum<\/a>, a company which disbanded in 2021 but came back in 2023 under new ownership. Their use of an osteopontin based peptide was slightly different from what Amplifica will be doing via osteopontin (plus other molecule) injections.<\/p>\n Follicum\u2019s Phase 2 clinical trials resulted in a hair growth increase of 6.6 hairs\/cm2<\/sup><\/strong>, which was deemed insufficient to continue with Phase 3 trials at the time. Hopefully, the company\u2019s new owners will have a change of heart.<\/p>\n Update: March 27, 2023<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n An interesting new UCI article<\/a> covering the work of their hair scientists Maksim Plikus and Natasha Mesinkovska. Per Dr. Plikus:<\/p>\n \u201cMost likely, SCUBE3 would be microinjected less than a millimeter beneath a person\u2019s skin, a \u201cfairly painless\u201d process that would have to be repeated periodically to maintain hair growth\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Human trials on Amplifica\u2019s lead compound (likely not SCUBE3, which was my original assumption) are expected to begin later in 2023.<\/p>\n January 26, 2023<\/strong> \u2014 Amplifica signed an exclusive licensing agreement<\/a> with \u201cThe Regents of the University of California\u201d for a proprietary pipeline hair growth molecule (SCUBE 3) that has been in the news a lot lately. Key quote:<\/p>\n \u201cThis early-stage compound (SCUBE3) will now be referenced as AMP-601<\/strong> and is currently undergoing pre-clinical testing at Amplifica.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n January 20, 2023<\/strong> \u2014 Amplifica to collaborate with UK-based Ingenza<\/a> in order to advance novel alopecia treatments involving the former\u2019s signaling molecules and proteins.<\/p>\n November 14, 2022<\/strong> \u2014 Make sure to watch the below interesting recent video presentation by Dr. Plikus:<\/p>\n October 24, 2022<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n I previously mentioned new hair loss company Amplica<\/a> in my post about Dr. Maksim Plikus\u2019s research on the Scube3 molecule for hair growth. He partnered with Dr. William Rassman to create Amplifica. The latter announced his involvement via a Reddit comment in July 2022.<\/p>\n Earlier today, it was announced that Amplifica just completed a $11.8 million Series A Financing round<\/a>. These funds will enable clinical development of the company\u2019s lead products to treat androgenic alopecia.<\/p>\n These lead products are listed as \u201cAMP-303\u201d and \u201cAMP-506\u201d. The press release states that they expect to initiate first clinical trials in fiscal year 2023.<\/p>\n Note that Amplifica was first mentioned in a 2020 news article<\/a> in regards to the new company\u2019s interesting work in relation to hairy moles. At the time, a team led by Dr. Plikus discovered that molecules from moles that grow excessive hair can induce follicle growth when administered anywhere on the skin.<\/p>\n Make sure to also read my past posts on Dr. Plikus<\/a> and his many areas of hair loss research breakthroughs. His team is based at the University of California, Irvine (UCI).<\/p>\n<\/div>\nAmplifica Raises $26 million in Series B Preferred Stock financing<\/h3>\n
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Encouraging Results from Amplifica\u2019s First-In-Human Trial of AMP-303<\/h2>\n
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Amplifica Begins Clinical Trials for AMP-303<\/h3>\n
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Amplifica Osteopontin (Hairy Mole Molecule) Clinical Trials Beginning Soon<\/h3>\n
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A Note on Osteopontin and Hair Growth<\/h3>\n
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New Agreements with Ingenza and University of California<\/h4>\n
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Amplifica<\/h2>\n
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<\/a>Amplifica, Dr. Maksim Plikus and Hairy Moles<\/h3>\n