Is Allergan’s Latisse Also a Cure for Baldness?
Allergan believes it may have a cure for baldness in the form of Latisse/Lumigan, its glaucoma drug-cum-eyelash enhancer. EVP R&D Scott Whitcup told investors on Allergan’s Q2 2009 conference call: We’re in the midst of looking at a number of [selections] by Bimatoprost [the chemical name for Latisse and Lumigan] for hair growth on the scalp. Unlike Lumigan for glaucoma, we don’t have the eight years plus of clinical trials data so we’re sort of starting from scratch. It’s a little too early to give you the final timeline but we are working as quickly as we can to get a formulation, get the pre-clinical work done and into the clinic and we’ll update you as soon as we have more from timeline. CEO David Pyott reminded investors that this isn’t all about money and vanity (although mostly it is): And we’re also doing work on patients who unfortunately have undergone chemotherapy so there’s a compassionate part of this story as well. The statements come as confirmation of internet rumors th
