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Hair Pipeline
← The whole pipeline

Female pattern hair loss

Diffuse thinning across the crown rather than a receding hairline, and the form of hair loss most under-served by the pipeline relative to how common it is.

Most trials in hair loss enrol men. Programmes that specifically recruit women are worth noting for that reason alone, whatever they turn out to be worth.

Available today

In development

Discontinued

Kept deliberately — the history of failures is as informative as the successes.

Home remedies, checked against the evidence

  • Does rosemary oil regrow hair?

    One small 2015 trial against low-strength minoxidil, with no placebo group. It does not show rosemary works as well as minoxidil.

  • Does rice water make hair grow?

    No study has tested rice water on hair growth. The one study of rice water measured how hair strands feel.

  • Does pumpkin seed oil regrow hair?

    One placebo-controlled trial, in 76 men, paid for by the company that supplied the capsules, which may have contained more than pumpkin seed oil.

  • Does saw palmetto regrow hair?

    Small trials, two of them run or backed by companies selling an extract. The one head-to-head comparison found it did less than finasteride.

  • Does caffeine shampoo stop hair loss?

    The best trial had no placebo and was paid for by Alpecin's maker. The UK advertising regulator ruled Alpecin's hair-loss claim misleading.

  • Does biotin help hair loss?

    It helps people who lack biotin, which is uncommon. No good trial shows it helps anyone else, and high doses can distort blood tests.

This page is generated from the register and updates with it. It does not rank treatments by efficacy or announce launch dates — see how we track. A research register, not medical advice: talk to a dermatologist about your own case.