Pelage Pharmaceuticals advances a hair regrowth treatment toward late-stage trials

Pelage Pharmaceuticals completed a Phase 2 study and raised $120 million to support larger clinical trials of PP405, a topical gel designed to stimulate terminal hair growth.

Pelage Pharmaceuticals, a Los Angeles biotech based in Westwood, is preparing for late-stage clinical trials after completing a Phase 2 study. The company raised $120 million in October to support larger trials and planned discussions with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Pelage operates from a UCLA incubator and remains a small team of about a dozen employees with contractors supporting research and operations. The treatment candidate, called PP405, is a topical gel that targets a protein in hair follicle stem cells to encourage growth of terminal hair. Key facts: - Pelage completed a Phase 2 study and had previously raised about $34 million to support that work. - The company raised $120 million in October in a round co-led by ARCH Venture Partners and GV, with participation from Main Street Advisors, Visionary Ventures and YK Bioventures. - Board changes tied to the financing include Cathy Friedman of GV as chair and Richard Heyman of ARCH joining the board alongside CEO Daniel Gil and cofounder William Lowry. - The candidate molecule PP405 is applied as a topical gel and is reported to inhibit a protein that keeps hair follicle stem cells dormant, producing terminal (normal) hair rather than fine vellus growth. - Pelage is based at the UCLA California NanoSystems Institute incubator, employs about a dozen people, and uses contractors and contract research organizations to stay lean. - Context for the effort includes that no new FDA-approved hair treatments have emerged in about 30 years, current options do not work for everyone and can have side effects, and the market was estimated at $1.51 billion in 2024 with a projected 2030 size of about $2.75 billion per GrandView Research. Summary: Pelage plans to use the new funding to run larger, late-stage clinical trials and to engage with the FDA as it seeks regulatory approval. If trials proceed, further steps would include regulatory review and decisions about insurer coverage or selling in the cash market. The company reports strong interest from potential trial candidates and remains based at the UCLA incubator. The timeline for approval and commercialization is undetermined at this time.