Generic propecia - Finasteride

Ukmedix has recieved news that Merck the manufacturers of the hair loss drug Propecia have applied for the Topical Finasteride application. Finasteride that is the active ingredient in Propecia is at present taken in the form of a pill daily and is thus ingested internally. The new patent application asks for the United States Patent Office to recognise that Finasteride may be applied to the scalp topically and the company Merck want to lay claim to that concept and idea.

Propecia is undoubtably one the most popular and effective remedies for hair loss that can be bought in the UK and is very popular with young men who suffer from Male Pattern Balding. Propecia can be used to grow hair and to maintain existing hair and thus stop hair loss continiuing unabated. The active ingredient in Propecia is finasteride and this has been given full approval by both the EMEA in the European Union and also by the FDA in the United States for sale but only when administered as a pill in 1mg form.

It has been thought for some time that a topical type of finasteride could be effective in blocking the formation of DHT in the scalp but the testing and research into it has not been done and the problem of either low or over absorbption of the finasteride as well as the potential side effects that could occur have not been looked into properly.

Topically applied medicines are much more difficult to regulate in the sense that the actual amount of the drug given is far harder to monitor and therefore an overdose or underdose can occur, unlike with a pill application which has a fixed amount of the medicine. A few analysts feel that Merck has applied for the topical finasteride patent only to stake a claim on all possible applicatons of the hair loss drug and not necessarily because they have advanced plans to actually launch the drug in this form. If the Propecia drug was to be launched as a topical solution it would need to be tested and researched very extensively before it could be sold or marketed.

The hair loss drug Propecia that is now the best selling hair loss drug in the world is only allowed to be prescribed to men over the age of 18. Male pattern balding normally starts to affect men in their 30’s and 40’s and it is more rarely seen in men who are in their 20’s. In some very rare cases men start to experience male pattern baldness in their teens. This can be a bit of a problem for doctors as the Propecia drug is only allowed to be prescribed to men who are eighteen and not below.

Some doctors may feel that giving a drug that acts on the male hormone dihydrotestosterone to a very young man could be bad for development and in any case there has not been any clinical testing with the drug on teenagers and so it would be inadvisable for a doctor to do so.

Propecia is also the most tested hair loss drug in the world having been the subject of many years continued testing in men. The drug can have an effect on the libido of a man as it affects the build up of dihydrotestosterone that is a relation of the male hormone testosterone. In about 1% of cases men report that they lose an interest in sex when they take the drug but in all cases their sexual function is fully restored almost immediately after stopping taking the drug.

At Ukmedix we reckon that one of the reasons why the drug is so popular is because of the ease with which it is used, as it doesn’t involve time-consuming applications of lotion or gels onto the scalp and just requires that you remember to take a small brown tablet daily.

Propecia is made by the drug company Merck and was discovered by accident when the finasteride drug that was being tested in men with cancer of the prostrate was seen to give hair growth as a side effect.

We keep on hearing good news about the finasteride hair loss drug that is made by Merck and goes by the name of Propecia. We have been receiving literally hundreds of emails from men who say that either their hair loss has stopped or in some cases they even regrow some of their hair. We are also aware that there are hundreds of hair loss products on the market out there and most of them come to your attention with glitzy advertising and sophisticated marketing methods.

At Ukmedix we admit that we don’t know if these hair loss products work or not but the fact of the situation is that most of them have not been properly tested and therefore can’t get proper EMEA or FDA approval.

When a serious drug company discovers a drug and wishes to sell and market it they first have to go through an exhaustive procedure that can cost many millions of pounds. There are various stages of testing which usually start with tests to make sure the drugs have no serious side effects. When the relevant drug authorities are satisfied that this is OK the drug company is then given the green light to continue with further testing to check that the drug is safe. The FDA and The EMEA continually monitor these tests and they have to follow various guidelines to make sure the results are fair and not misleading. Only after these extensive tests are drugs like hair loss drugs given full approval.

Propecia can claim to be the most tested and clinically research hair loss drug in the world with literally millions of individual men using it at any one time. Estimates say that around 4 million men are using Propecia in the world today and the number is rising. Propecia is not allowed to be directly marketed to men and has to have a doctor’s prescription and it is only because doctors are aware of the fact that the drug works and that it is safe for people to use it that it has become the No.1 prescribed hair loss medicine for male pattern balding in the world.

The facts speak for themselves and which is why we consider at Ukmedix that Propecia is the No.1 most effective hair loss drug in the world for men with genetic male pattern balding. Watch out for hair loss drugs and supplements that have no proper clinical data. The company that sells the drug can make all sorts of claims and have lots of testimonials from happy customers but it is the clinical data that matters.