Most hair loss treatments work the same way: slow the shedding, thicken what’s left. A new topical treatment in development is trying something different—waking up follicles that have already gone quiet instead of just protecting the ones still active. As reported by Dermatology Times, Christina Weng, MD, chief medical officer of Pelage, and CEO Dr. Daniel Gil discussed the company’s lead candidate, PP405, and what it could mean for people whose hair loss has gone past the point most treatments are built for.
How PP405 Is Different
PP405 is designed to reactivate dormant hair follicle stem cells rather than work around them. According to Dr. Gil, even scalp that looks fully bald often still has these stem cells present, they’re just inactive. The topical is built to coax them back into a growth cycle, restoring what the company calls intrinsic follicular activity instead of targeting indirect factors like androgens or scalp blood flow the way most current options do.
What the Early Trial Showed
Rather than tracking hair count alone, researchers measured active follicular units, natural groupings of one to five hairs that reflect how evenly new growth spreads across the scalp. In the phase 2a trial, PP405 was associated with increases in active follicular units and real, mature hair growth, while the placebo group mostly saw fine, faint vellus hairs.
The study enrolled 78 people and was designed mainly to check safety, not to prove efficacy, so the regrowth findings are still preliminary. Still, the results were encouraging: PP405 was well tolerated, with no signs of it entering the bloodstream and no treatment-related side effects reported elsewhere in the body.
What This Means for the Future of Hair Loss Treatment
PP405 is being developed for both men and women, and Pelage is preparing for larger, late-stage trials next, with follicular unit activation expected to remain a key measure of success. It joins a broader wave of regenerative approaches to hair loss currently moving through the pipeline, alongside other candidates like a fast-acting oral option for female pattern hair loss also in trials this year.
If PP405 continues to hold up in larger studies, it could offer something genuinely different for people whose follicles have gone dormant: not just protection for the hair still there, but a real shot at regrowth in areas that have already gone quiet.
