OliX Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced that it has received approval from the Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) in Australia to initiate a Phase 1 clinical trial of OLX72021, a treatment for androgenic alopecia, also known as male-pattern baldness. The trial is a multi-center, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, and single ascending dose Phase 1 study. The primary objective of the study is to evaluate the safety and tolerability of OLX72021 in healthy males with androgenic alopecia.

OLX72021 acts to suppress the hormone activity that causes androgenic alopecia by reducing the expression of the androgen receptor (AR). Since the candidate is rapidly degraded once it is exposed to blood after maintaining high concentration only in subcutaneous hair loss areas, it minimizes side effects of existing hair loss treatments, such as sexual dysfunction or depression. Pre-clinical studies of OLX72021 confirm that the drug effects persist beyond three weeks, which is expected to improve patient compliance.

The Company has determined that it will develop OLX72021 not only as an RNAi technology-based new drug, but also as a cosmeceutical, which offers consumers accessibility and convenience of use. This is based on excellent hair growth effects observed through application to the skin in addition to injection administration recently observed in rodent hair loss models.