• Hegar@fedia.io
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    10 days ago

    Through UCLA’s Technology Transfer Group, which transforms brilliant research into global market products, the scientists have co-founded a medical development company called Pelage Pharmaceuticals

    In case you were curious how this publicly funded research is going to be turned into private profits.

    • catloaf@lemm.ee
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      10 days ago

      I don’t think UCLA is going to produce retail products themselves.

      • Telorand@reddthat.com
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        10 days ago

        They could always make the research and processes public domain, so no one person can unilaterally profit.

        But that’s not what they did, and that’s the problem.

          • Telorand@reddthat.com
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            10 days ago

            Of course not, which is why they’re publicly funded. That’s the issue. They’re using public funds to make private profits.

              • Telorand@reddthat.com
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                10 days ago

                License and release it into the public domain: research, methods, processes, patents—the whole deal.

                Privatizing medicine, even elective medicine, just ensures predation.

                • catloaf@lemm.ee
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                  10 days ago

                  I’m not following. Making the results public domain doesn’t prohibit private companies from manufacturing for profit.

    • j4yt33@feddit.org
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      9 days ago

      I think this is pretty standard procedure no? Lots of small companies are spin-outs from universities

  • scarabic@lemmy.world
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    10 days ago

    Hair loss is caused by a multitude of factors, including aging, stress, hormonal imbalances and bad genetics.

    “Bad” genetics?! Damn, that’s a little fucking judgmental for what is ultimately just a cosmetic issue.

    • roofuskit@lemmy.world
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      10 days ago

      Better watch out, when the king of the US government is done with all the queers and chronically ill the baldies are next.

    • billwashere@lemmy.world
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      10 days ago

      When my head is freezing and I don’t have a hat handy I’m pretty sure that’s not a cosmetic issue.

    • QuarterSwede@lemmy.world
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      10 days ago

      It’s not just cosmetic. Hair keeps the heat from escaping the head so quickly and, more importantly, it helps keep the head from getting sunburned and skin cancer.

      • scarabic@lemmy.world
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        8 days ago

        You’re going to tell me that people are applying Rogaine so they don’t have to apply sunscreen? Hm yeah that is a well thought out argument when Rogaine is 10x more expensive.

        No. The male hair loss remedy industry is entirely built around cosmetic vanity, not keeping warm.

        I can sit here and tell you how hair can be host to different parasites or impair your vision while driving or get caught and pulled into power tools and is therefore a bad survival trait.

        But let’s not be absolute morons.

  • BertramDitore@lemm.ee
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    10 days ago

    I started losing my hair when I was a teenager, so I’ve been bald for most of my life. I’ve been shaving my head for decades because it’s the only way my head and face don’t look absurd. I’m totally used to it, and long ago accepted that I’d never have hair on my head again.

    But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want my hair back.

    If this turns out to be legit and works on most people, there could be a worldwide explosion of self-esteem in adults.

    • TommySoda@lemmy.world
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      10 days ago

      As someone that has also been bald since I was a teenager, I’ve also gotten used to it. I’ve accepted my fate and I’m fine with being bald.

      But at the same time do you ever have those dreams where you have hair again and get super excited about it? Like straight up Jesus hair.

      • BertramDitore@lemm.ee
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        10 days ago

        100%

        I’ve had dreams where my long locks were dramatically blowing in the wind, only to wake up and run my hands through my…well shit, that’s just my scalp.

        • tapdattl@lemmy.world
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          10 days ago

          I just wish I had done something absurd like sport a bright pink mohawk at some point before going bald 😂

      • futatorius@lemm.ee
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        10 days ago

        I had postcard white-guy Jesus hair, hanging to the middle of my back, straight and reddish blond. A beard too. I went bald in my mid-40s and now what’s left around the fringes is white. People who see pictures of me from back in the day don’t recognize me.

  • Allah@lemmy.worldOP
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    10 days ago

    Answer: kind of, as long you keep applying the substance you will regrow all the hair that you have lost and maintain it

    • TommySoda@lemmy.world
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      10 days ago

      That’s the problem I’ve always had with baldness remedies. Shaving my head every other week takes less effort and saves money. Plus I’ve been bald since highschool so I’m kinda used to it at this point.

      • catloaf@lemm.ee
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        10 days ago

        Saves money sure, but every other week? I have to buzz it twice a week to keep it short enough to not look terrible. That’s enough effort that I’d rather apply a regular treatment.

        Not like a daily “keep doing it or you lose all progress” treatment, but maybe like a “use it more or less daily and it’ll grow back” treatment.

    • scarabic@lemmy.world
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      10 days ago

      Hair loss remedies are always criticized on the grounds that you need to continue using them to continue seeing the benefits.

      I don’t know why this complaint surfaces for hair loss medications in particular, when a lot of things are like this. Insulin. Depression drugs. All supplements. Etc.

  • Viri4thus@feddit.org
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    10 days ago

    They didn’t and this doesn’t work as intended. They did however create a company to cash in on desperate people.

    • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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      9 days ago

      Reminds me of the time Vivek Ramaswamy bilked investors for over a billion with a phoney Alzeheimer’s drug

      he helmed the leadership of Roivant, a multi-billion-dollar American pharmaceutical company he founded, and gallantly relinquished his CEO role in 2021 due to his unwavering stance against ESG principles, despite facing opposition from his liberal workforce. While this narrative might seem appealing, it is akin to the endless “flip-flops” that have plagued his campaign—an elaborate work of fiction that unravels upon a modicum of scrutiny.

      Let’s start with the basics. Ramaswamy has funded his campaign through the sale of over $32 million in Roivant stock options in February of this year. This could lead one to believe that Roivant, based in Bermuda, is thriving and that Ramaswamy is a great entrepreneur. Except the company reported staggering losses of $1.2 billion in its financial report of March 2023. This isn’t a one-time slump: In March 2022, when Ramaswamy was still Roivant’s chairman and a major shareholder, the company reported an annual loss of $924.1 million.

      Ramaswamy’s defenders may argue that Roivant performed better during his tenure as CEO in 2021, but alas, the numbers tell a different story. The reality is that Roivant’s finances were abysmal under Ramaswamy’s watch. During his tenure in 2019, the company’s net operating loss exceeded $530 million. By 2020, the losses had doubled to over $1 billion, accompanied by a 65 percent decline in revenue.

  • Takashiro@lemmy.today
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    10 days ago

    Cool, but if this does work maybe in 10 years it will be easily accessible , Iam already going bald right now, sure it would be nice to have an option down the line.

    One thing to keep in mind growing up in this age, a lot of things being developed or in the news now, simply won’t be accessible or relevant within my lifetime.

    • scarabic@lemmy.world
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      10 days ago

      Dude, if this upsets you, consider that there are promising signs we may be able to significantly slow or even reverse aging itself within the next 50 years.

      This means that it will have taken humanity 10 or 20 thousand generations, since our origins, to achieve immortality. But you, me, and everyone reading this is going to miss out on that by about 2.

        • scarabic@lemmy.world
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          8 days ago

          When the scientific discoveries drop in about 50 years, you can expect another 20 years of development, approval, and commercialization. So if you are 10yo now, you will be 80yo taking your first pill. Hopefully that will not be too late for you. Stay in school and don’t do drugs, there, champ!

          • prettybunnys@sh.itjust.works
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            8 days ago

            Alternately it was posited in the late 90s that those of us that will live to 150 are already alive, at 40 years old with current medical technology I’m pretty sure I can make it another 70 years if I take care of myself.

            Assuming a continued exponential growth in medical advancement.

            The actuality of it though is my 401k is built around a glorious death in the water wars.

  • FreeSoftware Ganoo@sh.itjust.works
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    10 days ago

    I’m bald and started shaving my head as soon as I noticed it was thinning (19 yrs old). I like the lack of maintenance and I think I look good with a bald head. \o/

    Wouldn’t change it tbh.

      • Rivalarrival@lemmy.today
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        10 days ago

        Sure, but no need for combs, hair product, trips to the barber… I shave my face in the shower, and just keep going.

    • billwashere@lemmy.world
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      10 days ago

      I’m with you but I would like the option honestly since I’ve been bald for over 30 years. Never having a bad hair day and razors being cheaper than haircuts are definitely a plus. But hitting your head on anything is almost always some sort of gash.

      But damn if I don’t have dreams sometimes of running my fingers through my hair.

    • kmartburrito@lemmy.world
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      10 days ago

      Hey, I’m glad you can pull it off! I would look really weird with a shaved head. I would think there’s still maintenance involved though. How often do you have to shave it?

      • vext01@lemmy.sdf.org
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        9 days ago

        It depends how shiny you want to keep it.

        I do mine every 3 days, but it’s quality podcast time.

        Razor blades cost pennies. So cheap.

      • FreeSoftware Ganoo@sh.itjust.works
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        9 days ago

        I think 95% of people would look better bald than holding on to thinning hair. I shave daily because I like it smooooth, but it only takes a few minutes in the shower.

  • technocrit@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    9 days ago

    Baldness doesn’t need to be “cured”. There are many many actual diseases where people need real help.

    Unfortunately capitalism completely degrades and perverts science/technology in order to make a quick buck, rather than actually helping humanity escape impending doom.

  • iopq@lemmy.world
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    10 days ago

    Finasteride effectively cured male pattern balding already. It’s safe and effective, the only downside is that you need to keep taking it

      • iopq@lemmy.world
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        9 days ago

        In a small percentage of people, and I was among those. It’s not permanent, because finasteride increases testosterone, which can convert to estrogen

      • iopq@lemmy.world
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        8 days ago

        It reversed hair loss for me, I used to have a bald spot and I don’t have one anymore.