United States-based Samumed has completed a Phase II clinical trial for its potential treatment of androgenetic alopecia, it was reported yesterday.

The company's investigational drug is a topical solution of its novel small molecule compound, SM04554.

The firm has enrolled 300 patients in the multi-centre, randomised double-blind, vehicle-controlled Phase II trial that studied the safety, tolerability and efficacy of two different concentrations of SM04554 in male subjects with AGA between the ages of 18 and 55 with Norwood-Hamilton Classification scores of 4, 5, 5A, 5V, or 6. The study included a 90-day, once-a-day treatment period and a 45-day post-treatment follow up. In preclinical in vivo studies, SM04554 has been shown to generate new hair follicles and increase hair count in multiple animal models.