Experimental pill prompts some to regrow a nearly full head of hair

 Concert Pharmaceuticals said Monday that its experimental treatment for a severe form of hair loss called alopecia areata could restore a nearly full head of hair in about 30 to 40 percent of people.

The small Lexington company is one of a few firms with drugs in the advanced stages of clinical testing for the disease in which a person’s immune system attacks their hair follicles, resulting in patchy or total hair loss. Although alopecia areata can sometimes clear up on its own in months, the condition often lasts for years. There are no treatments approved for the disease.

“Like many other autoimmune diseases, it is one that has not received a ton of attention until relatively recently,” said Concert Pharma chief executive Roger Tung. While developing the therapy, he has met people who suffer severe anxiety and depression from spontaneously developing the condition. “This can really screw up people’s lives,” he said.

Tung said that between several hundred thousand and 1.5 million people may have the condition in the US at one time. Massachusetts representative Ayanna Pressley and actress Jada Pinkett Smith are among the prominent people with alopecia.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/05/23/business/experimental-pill-prompts-some-regrow-nearly-full-head-hair/