Photo: UA associate professor Joshua Sakon. Courtesy of University of Arkansas
The University of Arkansas has received a patent for a drug developed by researchers for the treatment of hair loss and other disorders.
Joshua Sakon, a UA associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry, is one of four co-inventors of the the pharmaceutical protein now known as BMD-2341. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued a patent, titled “Fusion Proteins of Collagen Binding-Domain and Parathyroid Hormone,” on June 23 to the University of Arkansas System Board of Trustees, the Ochsner Clinic Foundation and the National University Corporation Kagawa University in Japan.
“A derivative of the original drug has an effect in reversing or suppressing hair loss,” Sakon said. “Specifically, it could be applied to treat alopecia, a condition in which hair loss occurs in patches on the scalp, or in cases of chemically induced alopecia, which occurs during chemotherapy. The drug has been successful in treating hair loss in mice, and I look forward to seeing the drug move into clinical trials.”
BiologicsMD, a drug discovery firm headquartered at the Arkansas Research and Technology Park, holds the exclusive license to the patented technology and is developing a line of protein therapeutics and drug/device combination products to treat hair loss and baldness.
This is the second U.S. patent awarded to Sakon and his co-inventors. In 2013, they were awarded a composition of matter patent for the protein therapeutics for the treatment of osteoporosis and other bone maladies. BiologicsMD also holds the exclusive license for these patents.
