April’s QOM

Can the active ingredient in  Latisse (  bimatoprost, careprost,etc) really grow back scalp hair? If

so,  What type of growth can it stimuate and is a maintenance program needed to retain the

hair growth?

There is so much talk about this online but no definitive answers. Prostamide is FDA cleared to

regrowth lashes, why not scalp hair?

Many thanks,

Joy

Dear Joy,

Yes it has been shown to regrow hair on other areas  besides the eyelash. Bimatoprost, a prostamide receptor analogue (stimulator), is the active ingredient in both Careprost and Latisse. An animal study done on mice did show that it enhanced hair growth, however its efficacy was not compared to Minoxidil.  I also haven’t found studies on scalp hair regrowth in humans. In my search, I have found more Stage 2 human studies with Lantanoprost than with Bimatoprost.

A probable reason for the company not doing a full- on robust study for this indication, is because of the comparative cost of making the product versus Minoxidil (Rogaine). There is a marked difference in pricing between the two products. For the product to be marketed for scalp hair regrowth, it must outperform Minoxidil not only in scalp hair growth but also in pricing.

Hope that helps!