Yeah, I understand the RNA interference stuff. I apologize for not be more precise with my words,jme1.
I’m hoping right along with the rest of you that they get a delivery system that works for hair removal. I hope there is a real interest in this one. Just call me “Debbie Downer – wah-wah”. My kids do it (with love) and so can you since I’m now desensitized by the comment. 
Well, I’m a bit doubtful on this as well…only for the fact that it’s been so quiet. Right now I see it as 50/50. They have proven the technology works in in vitro and in vivo studies. They have proven it with other trials they have done up until now. I just wish there would be some news. In January, Sirna/Merck’s application to begin clinical trials for hair removal was in progress. Nothing has come about since.
I know jeffk has been pretty good about finding info, perhaps if he sees this he will chime in on anything he might have ran across recently.
Hi all,
Just thought I would share an email I sent to the leading scientist in this feild (as well as Sirna and Merck), Dr. A Christiano of which she was kind enough to reply to! 
Seems like she is still working hard on the problem:
"Thank you for copying me on your incredibly eloquent email to
Merck/Sirna.
I had no idea people like yourself were following this work so
closely…I’ve read some of the hairtell stories, and I am humbled and deeply moved by them.
Would you mind if I share your email with a few other people?
Thank you again for taking the time to write such an impassioned
letter to Merck. It means the world to me to know that our little bit of research may someday impact people’s lives and well-being for the better.
Please keep in touch,
warmest regards,
angela
> Request to Merck/Dr.Christiano/Sirna
>
> Hello,
>
> I have been watching the developments at Sirna for the past
> year, in particular their “hairless” product, developed in part
> by Dr. Christiano the leading scientist in the field, which I
> believe stands to be one of the biggest breakthroughs in cosmetic
> dermatology in many years. Clinical trials were to start early
> this year but I now understand that since Merck’s acquisition of
> Sirna late last year they will be reviewing Sirna’s product
> pipeline and determining which programs they will continue
> researching and developing. I am hoping that their hairless
> product gets the green light from Merck because I strongly
> believe that it has the potential to help millions of people
> around the globe while also offering large financial returns for
> Merck. I am not naive enough to believe that anything I say here
> will affect the course of a multi-billion dollar corporation but
> if you’ll allow me I’d like to express the reasons why I think
> Merck would be wise to develop this revolutionary
> product and perhaps how they could go about doing so.
>
> While excess hair may seem trivial when compared to some of the
> many diseases and illnesses Merck is currently developing drugs
> to treat, perhaps I can illuminate just how much this problem
> effects the daily lives of its suffers. I am myself a sufferer of
> this problem and along with many other tens of thousands I am a
> member of a web forum called Hairtell.com. I would suggest anyone
> who feels that excess unwanted hair is a trivial problem should
> read the “Share your feelings” thread on that forum. There many
> people tell heartbreaking stories of how their excess hair causes
> them crippling anxiety and depression. How the condition forces
> them to stay indoors, away from beaches and pools, to shun away
> intimate relationships and in some cases even leads to suicide,
> as they can no longer take the feelings of being a social
> outcast.
>
> In a world where people can have any cosmetic “flaw” nipped,
> tucked, and sucked, where is the permanent option for excess hair
> sufferers? Sure you can have areas waxed every month but this is
> painful and in many cases embarrassing. Ask any woman with excess
> hair on her face if they want a permanent solution or a temporary
> one and they will answer permanent 100% of the time. Laser and
> IPL are pathetically inadequate offering questionable results for
> an extremely high price. Electrolysis is also an option but it
> must be carried out hair by hair, takes years to accomplish, and
> is extremely painful. Science simply must come up with a better
> answer to this problem and whoever does stands to make huge
> gains. For example, currently the most popular form of
> “permanent” hair removal is laser and IPL. Persons will pay
> anywhere from $150 - $ 1000 (perhaps more depending on the size
> of the area to be treated) per session, usually having to attend
> 8-12 separate sessions. In total then
> a person could spend anywhere from $1,800 to $12,000 to complete
> the treatment over a span of weeks/years for typically
> unsatisfactory results, some people have actually spent these
> sums and had their condition become worse!
>
> The point is that millions of people around the world want a
> solution to this problem, even those not suffering from an
> “excess” unwanted hair condition. For example, what woman
> wouldn’t want to be free of constantly shaving her legs and
> underarms? Think of the time and money people could save over a
> lifetime of shaving and purchasing shaving creams, moisturizers,
> razors and blades (we all know how overpriced razor blades are
> don’t we?). Merck could be the first to market a truly permanent
> alternative to this, that people may eventually be able to use in
> the comfort and privacy of their own homes. The amount of time
> and money people are spending on laser and IPL clearly shows that
> they are willing to pay BIG for the hope of permanent relief, but
> nobody is providing the safe, simple, solution, that is until I
> stumbled upon Sirna’s product pipeline.
>
> The biggest problem for Merck that I can see is that it never
> seems to be a smart business plan to offer a permanent solution.
> Obviously this is because you won’t be getting repeat customers,
> as they undergo the procedure once and ideally will not have to
> have the treatment carried out again. As a result very few
> companies offer a permanent solution for anything (I have yet to
> see the everlasting lightbulb invented and I doubt we ever will).
> However the example of laser eye surgery then hit me, this is a
> permanent solution to impaired vision and is done so because
> although they do not get repeat customers they do charge a
> significant sum for the initial product/procedure. This can also
> work for Sirna’s hairless product because, as IPL and laser show,
> people are prepared to pay anywhere from $1,800 to $12,000 for a
> permanent solution. I believe the average cost of permanent laser
> eye correction is currently around $5,000 USD, so why can’t Merck
> offer Sirna’s permanent
> hair removal at an appropriate cost effective level as laser eye
> surgeons are now doing? Therefore although you don’t get repeat
> customers, the high revenue from each procedure of applying the
> cream/product will outweigh that business downside. Regardless,
> there will always be rising demand for the product anyway; as new
> adolescencents enter the market everyday, as population
> increases, and prosperity grows in emerging markets, so will
> demand for this product.
>
> If Merck does decide to continue development on the hairless
> product I do hope it is as a permanent solution and not a
> temporary one where people have to have the cream reapplied every
> month or year, as this defeats the purpose of alleviating
> people’s stress and anxiety from their condition, as they will
> still have to “manage” the problem. Also sales of your product
> will not be nearly as dramatic because quite simply there are
> dozens of other methods to manage the unwanted hair problem
> temporarily, this is NOT the permanent solution people are
> screaming for.
>
> I am confident that Merck will have the foresight to realize
> that Sirna’s hairless product is a potential blockbuster drug,
> which could literally be marketed to nearly every adolescent
> female on the planet in addition to many men who also suffer with
> unwanted hair.
> Hoping that your company makes the right decision.
>
> Best regards,"
I sent Dr.Christiano a post from a very depressed poster,“MikeP”, entitled “Re: Male with fur” in 2006, but I got no reply. My hope was to keep her involved with her research. Here’s the whole thread: http://www.hairtell.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Board=1&Number=35914&Searchpage=1&Main=7599&Words=christiano&topic=0&Search=true#Post35914
I’m glad you received such a warm reply Eddy, because that tells us now that she is aware of real people who come to hairtell with real hair problems. I highlighted a paragraph below in bold print so you can see what I am referring to. There is a profile of Dr. Christiano at the bottom of the post as well for anyone interested in knowing more about her.
Also, I really liked the part of your e-mail about Laser eye surgery. That was a great point to make. I’m really surprised that she actually read a long e-mail such as this, as it is my understanding that many professionals don’t have the time to read long e-mails.I think that shows her dedication to the hairless gene studies. Good job, Eddy. Maybe she will contact you and see if you would like to be involved in clinical trials??
Dee
#35914 - 09/13/06 02:21 PM Re: Male with fur (y)
dfahey
Top Ten Contributor
Registered: 10/27/03
Posts: 1508
Loc: Columbus, Ohio
Electrolysis will work for any kind of hair, but your problem is the amount of hair. Having brown skin does not exclude you from laser therapy, but makes the task a little more difficult. Both modalities used together could be helpful to speed of the process. You should be advised to focus on an area of priority. But, as I thought about your situation, I’m concerned about the amount of hair you describe and it appears that a medical consultation is in order.
Laser and electrolysis can help. There are places here in the US that can work on you very fast to remove the hair and others can point them out to you. James Walker the seventh (certified professional electrologist)here on hairtell is very, very good with the speed factor and in the advice area if you want to fly over!
Also, I’m preoccupied with going another level with this and mentioning that you should immerse yourself in the research that is going on in Europe and the United States and perhaps becoming part of a clinical study. There is one clinical study happening now that I will mention in a minute.
A lot of hair research centers focus on hair loss, but through this research, the mystery to solving hypertrichosis (too much hair) could very well be solved at the cellular level, as well. This is the hope of many. Sirna Dermatology (Boulder,Colorado) is involved with researching and developing a way to to deliver “agents” at the cellular level that interfers with the messenger part of the cell, RNA, that will interfer with hair cells duplicating. Dr. Christiano’s research has been acquired by SiRNA for hopefully applying her work in relation to providing permanent hair removal at the cellular level for people like yourself with copious amounts of hair. She is a board member of Sirna Therapeutics. Her profile is listed below.
I am mentioning another level of involvement, the research side of things, because of the amount of hair you describe. I have not seen any clinical studies that are recruiting patients yet, however, The University of Jena (Germany) will be ready to go for a study they are doing for hypertrichosis using photodynamic therapy, but it is still not open for patient recruitment yet. Maybe you could apply and participate at the appropriate time?
I have sent your post to Dr. Christiano as a gesture to remind her how people with copius amounts of hair suffer in their daily lives and how they would honor her and her work forever if she could find a safe and effective way to rid them of too much hair - safely. You will have to snoop around on your own to involve yourself in what hope awaits you for the future.
http://www.clinicaltrials.gov (U.S.) can be a start.
Dee
Here is a profile of Dr. Angela Christiano, Associate Professor of Dermatology and Gene Development at Columbia University in New York.
Education and Training
Ph.D. 1991 Rutgers University
Postdoctoral Fellow 1991-95 Jefferson Medical College
Affiliations
Department of Dermatology
Department of Genetics & Development
Stem Cell Consortium
Training Activities
Training Program in Genetics & Development
Integrated Program in Cellular, Molecular & Biophysical Studies
MD/PhD Program
Angela M. Christiano, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Molecular
Dermatology and Genetics & Development
Research Summary
Molecular basis of inherited skin and hair disorders in humans and mice.
Christiano Lab
The major focus of our research is the study of inherited skin and hair disorders in humans and mice, through a classical genetic approach including identification and phenotyping of disease families, genetic linkage, gene discovery and mutation analysis, and functional studies relating these findings to basic questions in epidermal biology. Our interests include transcriptional regulation of hair cycling and differentiation, the biology of cadherin-mediated cell adhesion junctions known as desmosomes, and the morphogenesis epidermal appendages such as hair and teeth. A long-range goal of our research is to develop genetic and cell-based therapies for skin and hair diseases through understanding disease pathogenesis. We are using epithelial reprogramming as a therapeutic approach for inherited skin diseases.
In addition to human congenital alopecia, mutations in this gene also underlie the hairless and rhino phenotypes in mice. Hairless appears to have a multitude of functions, and its relationship to thyroid hormone, transcriptional co-repression and apoptosis, among other cellular events, is currently under investigation.
Selected Publications:
Ahmad, W., ul Haque, M.F., Brancolini, V., Tsou, H.C., ul Haque, S., Lam, H.M., Aita, V.M., Owen, J., deBlaquiere, M., Frank, J.A., Cserhalmi-Friedman, P.B., Leask, A., McGrath, J., Peacocke, M., Ahmad, M., Ott, J. and Christiano, A.M. (1998) Alopecia Universalis Associated with a Mutation in the Human hairless Gene. Science 279:720-724.
Frank, J., Pignata, C., Panteleyev, A.A., Prowse, D.M., Baden, H., Weiner, L., Gaetaniello, L., Ahmad, W., Pozzi, N., Cserhalmi-Friedman, P.B., Aita, V.M., Uyttendaele, H., Gordon, D., Ott, J., Brissette, J.L. and Christiano, A.M. (1999) Exposing the Human Nude Phenotype. Nature 398:473-474.
Reynolds, A.J., Lawrence, C., Cserhalmi-Friedman, P.B., Christiano, A.M. and Jahoda, C.A.B. (1999) Trans-gender Induction of Hair Follicles. Nature 402:33-34.
Djabali, K., Aita, V,M, and Christiano, A.M. (2001) Hairless is translocated to the nucleus via a novel bipartite nuclear localization signal and is associated with the nuclear matrix. J. Cell Science 114:367-376.
Panteleyev, A.A., Jahoda, C.A.B. and Christiano, A.M. (2001) Hair Follicle Predetermination. J. Cell Science 114:3419-3431.
Kljuic, A., Bazzi, H., Sundberg, J.P., Martinez-Mir, A., O’Shaughnessy, R., Mahoney, M.G., Levy, M., Montagutelli, X., Ahmad, W., Aita, V.M.,Gordon, D., Uitto, J., Whiting, D., Ott, J., Fischer, S., Gilliam, T.C., Jahoda, C.A.B., Morris, R.J., Panteleyev, A.A., Nguyen, V.T. and Christiano, A.M. (2003) Desmoglein 4 in hair follicle differentiation and epidermal adhesion: Evidence from inherited hypotrichosis and acquired pemphigus vulgaris. Cell 113:249-260.
Current Projects
Epithelial Reprogramming
We instead asked whether we could identify an ectopic source of epithelial cells that could be induced into becoming a skin stem cell. Rather than searching for markers of the epidermal stem cell itself, we asked whether we could reprogram other epithelia into skin under the appropriate inductive (dermal) influences.
National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases
9/2002-5/2004
Functional Analysis of the Hairless Protein
We have combined our preliminary studies with several emerging lines of biological data to formulate a hypothesis which asks three questions. First, is hairless a DNA-binding protein, and if yes, what is its signature sequence? Secondly, is hairless a transcriptional coactivator, and if yes, what are its interaction partners? Finally, what are the downstream targets of hairless gene regulation? We anticipate that this approach will allow us to gain novel insights into the function of the hairless protein for the first time.
National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases
9/2001-7/2006
Molecular genetics of the keratodermas
The project consists of three integrated and interdependent aims. The first one is to search for mutations in eleven candidate genes in a small number of families with a characterized inherited keratoderma. The second is to identify the mutated genes in large pedigrees with well-characterized, dominant, and fully penetrant keartodermas, one with EB superficialis, the other “Novel Acantholytic Disease.” The third is to isolate and characterize genes that play a role in epidermal differentiation.
National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases
7/1998-3/2009
Gene therapy model of dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa
National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases
9/1995-6/2006
Honors and Awards
2001 New York City Mayor’s Award for Excellence in Science and
Technology - Young Investigator’s Award
2001 Doctor Harold and Golden Lamport Research Award for “Excellence
In Clinical Sciences”, Columbia University, New York, NY
2003 CERIES Research Award
Committee, Council, Professional Society Memberships
1996-Present Editor, Experimental Dermatology, Munksgaard International Publishers, Inc.
1995-Present Board of Trustees, DEBRA (Dystrophic E.B. Research Association) of America
2000-2005 Member, Society of Investigative Dermatology, Committee on Scientific Programs
2001-Present New York Skin Biology Club
Co-founder and Meeting Co-chairperson
2003-Present Chair, Gordon Conference on Epithelial Differentiation and Keratinization
2003-Present Associate Editor, Journal of Clinical Investigation
American Society for Clinical Investigation
Hey Eddy,
Nice post. I do hope these companies, namely Merck understand the possible implications such a treatment would have on so many people.
Eddy,
thanks a lot for this great email. I hope Angela sent it to some people with some decision-making power.
I haven’t heard anything from Sirna. Even though they were taken over by Merck, there should be some news on the company itself, but it’s like they have fallen in to a black hole.
hi everybody,
Merck released its updated pipeline today. I haven’t found anything about our magic cream here:
http://a248.e.akamai.net/7/248/430/20070409134202/www.merck.com/finance/pipeline.swf
nor on the clinicaltrials.gov site.
Has anybody an idea what happened with the sirna program?
I think it’s a pretty safe bet Sirna has been buried within Merck, never to be seen again. I hate to say that because I never thought it was happen, but I check their “website” quite often and it’s never been updated.
hi everyone,
there is an update on www.sirna.com but no info on the magic cream. I tried to call them, but this answering procedure is a bit confusing. Maybe someone else can try it.
there is also an update on www.applisonix.com: they developed the protoype, they want to conduct clinical tests in the middle of 2008 and product launch is planed for 2009.
there are also changes on www.photoderma.com
clinical trials are scheduled for the beginning of 2008 for permanent hair removal
I know this is a really old post, but is there any update on this? I can’t find anything newer than 2009 via google.
Good question…
Merck purchased Sirna in 2006 and I don’t think researching how to get rid of unwanted hair was on their priority list, as it was for Sirna. If anything, they would be pursuing the oncology track, for obvious reasons They understand how to “silence the genes”, but the delivery system is a real challenge. You might want to research the two doctors that discovered how to interfer with the RNA (Craig Mello and Andrew Fire) and see if they are still doing this research: http://www.ip-right.org/Right/rnai
I read an interview with one of the head developers of this. He said the main reason it fell through was due to technological shortcomings. Namely, they couldn’t get the siRNA to penetrate into the skin.
However, researchers from Northwestern have just developed a topical delivery method to do just that!..
I wonder if the people from Sirna will pick up on this new technology and continue with their project!!