HST-001 (Hair Stimulating Complex)
Development of HST-001 (Hair Stimulating Complex) for androgenetic alopecia was discontinued by Histogen.
A growth-factor cocktail from cultured newborn fibroblasts, injected into scalps for a decade, that missed its placebo-controlled endpoint in 2021.
This programme is no longer being actively pursued.
- Developed by
- Histogen
- Current phase
- Discontinued
- Mechanism
- Growth factor
- Indications
- Androgenetic alopecia, Female pattern hair loss
- Also known as
- Hair Stimulating Complex, HSC, HST001
- Last public activity
- March 2021
- Copy last reviewed
- September 2026
- Record confidence
- High
Development stopped.
Delivers growth factors - proteins that tell follicle cells to divide and grow.
A research record, not medical advice: being listed here says nothing about whether a treatment works or whether it is right for you. Talk to a dermatologist about your own case.
How it is meant to work
Histogen cultured newborn dermal fibroblasts and harvested what they secreted: a cell-free mixture of growth factors and matrix proteins, injected intradermally. The bet was that the secretome of embryonic-like cells would wake follicles.
Why it matters
Ten years of trials, from a men's Phase 1/2 in 2011 through a women's Phase 1 in 2018 to a placebo-controlled Phase 1b/2a in men. That last one reported at week 26 in February 2021: treated men grew more total hairs than their own baseline and 84% were called responders, but the difference against placebo was not statistically significant. Histogen suspended HST-001 that June to fund its orthopaedic programmes, approved a plan of liquidation in September 2023 and filed for Chapter 11 in April 2024. A clean example of why a responder rate reported without the placebo arm's is not a result.
Development history
- Phase 1/2
First Phase 1/2 trial on record: NCT01501617 — Safety and Efficacy of Hair Stimulating Complex (HSC) on Hair Growth in Males With Androgenetic Alopecia
ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
Registered trials
Pulled automatically from ClinicalTrials.gov. Matching is by name and development code, so occasional gaps are possible — tell us if you spot one.
Safety and Efficacy of HST 001 in Male Pattern Hair Loss
Histogen · n=36 · May 2020
Safety and Tolerability of Hair Stimulating Complex (HSC) in Female Pattern Hair Loss
Histogen · n=27 · July 2018
Safety and Efficacy of Hair Stimulating Complex (HSC) on Hair Growth in Males With Androgenetic Alopecia
Histogen · n=56 · December 2011
Listing a trial is not a recommendation to join one. Eligibility, risks and costs vary enormously — discuss any trial with your own doctor first.
Sources
- Histogen files for voluntary Chapter 11 protection to facilitate wind-down — Company release, April 2024
- Histogen Inc. Form 8-K — Nasdaq delisting notice, citing the plan of liquidation and dissolution — Regulator filing, September 2023
- Histogen plans to wind down operations after failing to find a partner — Press, September 2023
- Histogen provides update on its development programs and pipeline focus — Company release, June 2021
- Histogen announces week 26 HST-001 study results for the treatment of androgenic alopecia in men — Company release, February 2021
Related programmes
Other programmes in the register with the same mechanism: Growth factor.
Cite this page
Hair Pipeline, "HST-001 (Hair Stimulating Complex) — development record", hairpipeline.com/pipeline/hst-001