I’m referring to the following from HairClone’s website:
“Patients and clinicians will be invited to invest in order to support the research and development in return for equity in HairClone.”
For me, it makes sense to either donate money toward HairClone (small amounts) or invest in the company (larger amounts). Perhaps for others it makes more sense to bank follicles or do nothing at all.
IMO, investing into HairClone is a good investment for everybody, even if you simply donate $100 and walk away. Far too many people complain about how they’ve been unfairly shortchanged by MPB; thus, other people owe them a living. These people never lift a finger to do anything about their condition. The only thing they’re good at is spreading negativity and dread.
I’d prefer to leave the dead to bury the dead. Instead of feeling sorry for myself and dragging down others, I’d prefer to help back a team with the knowledge, experience, and ambition to do something about my condition. And if it doesn’t work out, at least I did something with my life other than complain and feel sorry for myself while attempting to destroy the well-being of others.
From where I’m sitting, the fabulous Riken hasn’t exactly called me up and asked me to become a member of their research team. Who else is going to ask me to become a partner in attempting to find a cure? The only real offer I’ve ever seen is from HairClone.
People tend to see Dr. Kemp’s research as “too late” to be of use. It’s as if, there’s a guaranteed cure on the horizon, so nobody else should even try. According to these people, in two years, we’ll all be Brad Pitt. The reality is, two years from today, we’ll still be bald. The best we can hope for, is an interim treatment to come out soon that gives us some increased density while we wait for a real cure to emerge.
What I like about HairClone’s plan is they can inject multiplied hair cells into patients on a case-by-case basis without having to enter into formal government-regulated trials. This is a game-changer, as it allows them to garner immediate and ongoing information while they simultaneously work on figuring out how to keep multiplied cells from turning into non-viable cell types. IOW, it provides them with similar advantages while working with humans that they have enjoyed in the past while working with mice. I’ve lost faith in the make it work in mice, from this design studies in humans, and lock into a single protocol upfront for the upcoming 5 years and never deviate from this protocol until the five years is up approach. No offense to those that cling to the old model, but I see it as needing about 20 years to be successful, and then it will only give us an imperfect treatment until additional research is performed.
IMO, HairClone should use the concept of paying to be experimented on. In this scenario, MPB sufferers would pay for a portion of the cost of having themselves injected, even early on in the experimental phase (for instance, prove non-cultured DP cells would result in a cure if you had an unlimited supply.). The other portion of the cost would come from various other funding sources. What does the patient get? Early knowledge of how their body responds to treatment. What does HairClone get? Its research becomes self-sustaining.
I believe HairClone will be successful is if they take on patients as partners, and they begin to deliver results to their partner-base early and often in the game. The pace of discovery will mirror the pace of investment. The two are married at the hip. Should one or the other falter, so shall the other.