Makers of Tricomin® team with
American Crew to bring Hair Loss treatments into salons
July 8, 2001 - San Diego,
CA
The days of hair
stylists touting nothing but Nioxin, a very unproven
product for hair loss, may be numbered. One of the only other
clinically tested and efficacious treatments for thinning hair has
finally broken into the mainstream. ProCyte, makers of
Tricomin® and owners of the
AHK Copper Peptide method of hair growth
stimulation patent have signed a deal with American Crew to
distribute their copper peptide technology in salons across the
country to help those seeking relief from thinning hair.
Tricomin - a product we
all know and respect as being one of the only other alternatives to
Rogaine and Propecia that truly has undergone some rigorous clinical
testing and has shown good results with hundreds of thousands of
users, uses a technology known as "AHK Copper Peptide" technology.
The idea behind AHK Copper Peptide is an artificial shortening of the
resting phase of the follicle, thereby bringing more follicles into
growth phase, resulting in thicker, fuller hair. It is a
technology that performed quite well in physician directed studies.
ProCyte announced a long
term license and supply agreements with American Crew, a division of The Colomer Group, for use of its patented AHK Copper Peptide Complex for hair care products for sale in the hair and beauty salon and day spa marketplaces. The agreements cover the United States and certain international markets and provide ProCyte with milestone and royalty payments that include minimum payment levels.
|
HairlossSucks
spoke with Robin Carmichael, Vice President of marketing for
ProCyte Corporation, and got the inside scoop on what's to
come. |
|
HairlossSucks:
Tell us a little about what American Crew plans to do with your
products? As we understand it, they won't actually be
distributing Tricomin® itself, but something different?
RCarmichael:
That's correct, American Crew will be taking our Copper Peptide
technology and putting it into their own formulation and shampoo's.
HairlossSucks:
What exactly will be different about these new American Crew
products in comparison to Tricomin®?
RCarmichael:
Probably the concentrations are going to be different, and the
various ingredients that they put in their formulations will be
different. Ours is a fairly medical approach to the hair care arena.
The Tricomin® products are really great hair care products
products in addition to providing the benefits of
Triamino Copper Complex™, but I think that
American Crew will probably look more towards performance based styling
ability and some of the other aspects that
you see in salon products as they incorporate our technology into some
of their products. They don't currently have a product in their line
that's specifically for thinning hair, so this benefits both
companies. It gives them the opportunity for expanding their product line
into a new niche, and gives us the opportunity to bring the AHK Copper
Peptide technology into the salon marketplace. As you're
aware, Minoxidil has already moved into the salon arena under the
"John Paul Mitchell / Rogaine" combo package, so I think
it gives American Crew and opportunity to do something similar.
American Crew has a terrific brand image and top
quality top products, so we are very excited about this
partnership.”
HairlossSucks:
Any ideas on what kind of products they plan to incorporate this
hair growing technology into?
RCarmichael:
I don't know exactly what their product line will be. It will probably be several
products with AHK Copper Peptide. They are the leader in men's grooming products,
and are very responsive to bringing to the consumer
products that fit a need, and are performance driven. The
general concept will be hair care products.
HairlossSucks:
Do you think these products will be as effective as Tricomin® Therapy spray? Will they have formulations which will make them useful for those with thinning hair?
RCarmichael:
I think they probably will. I can't really comment on the specific formulations because I
don't know their exact plan, but I think that they would want to be able to market something that has some basis for making claims. As you're aware, because
Tricomin® is a cosmetic product in as much as that's how
we're choosing to market it, we don't make claims that it grows hair.
HairlossSucks:
What type of international distribution is expected?
RCarmichael:
Basically wherever
American Crew distributes. American Crew has a wide variety of distribution channels which of course include the
United States, Europe, and Asia. You can expect to start seeing these particular products sometime in early 2002 in salons. |
|
HairlossSucks:
How will they be identified?
RCarmichael:
I imagine they will be marketed as a new product line under the
American Crew brand with some sort of identification as a product for thinning hair. I don't have the exact name of the product line at this time.
HairlossSucks:
As we all know, it seems that Nioxin products are the only one's truly being touted as a treatment for hair loss in Salons across the country. Those of us who have done research on the efficacy of Nioxin know that it's far less proven than copper peptide technology at stimulating hair growth. How can our users help get these new products into salons when they become available?
RCarmichael:
They can ask their salons to inquire about the new American Crew thinning hair Category products which will be available at that time. The salons can contact the standard American Crew distribution channels
to see about obtaining them for their inventory in the salon.
HairlossSucks:
What is in store for ProCyte in the hair loss industry in the coming
years?
RCarmichael:
In the future we are looking more so into the hair transplant arena, and
creating products centered around this type of skin and hair treatment. We're currently in pause mode when it comes to continuing development of Tricomin® related products, in order to help American Crew focus on
getting their product line up and going. We're seeing a lot of exciting things in the area of copper peptide technology
that's not just limited to hair health. It's
effect on things such as improving the appearance of aging skin,
enhancing collagen and helping with hyper
pigmentation as well as with wound healing in general, are just some of the
benefits. Many
of these will help people who have recently undergone hair transplant
procedures or laser resurfacing.
HairlossSucks:
Any chance of ProCyte completing the FDA Trials for Tricomin®?
RCarmichael:
We're potentially looking in the long term at returning to the FDA to establish further clinical trials on the Tricomin® products.
We're thinking of presenting them into the trials possibly with higher concentrations, and
/ or determining the effects of some different dynamic delivery systems.
HairlossSucks:
Could you elaborate more on what you mean by Delivery Systems?
RCarmichael:
An example is how some Retin-A / Tretinoin products have
found ways to optimize the delivery of the product to improve effectiveness by making use of a micro sponge.
By delivery I mean improving absorption. This tool not only helped absorption but also was able to limit the skin irritation for those applying it. We're going to be looking at new ways to maximize the delivery of the
AHK Copper Peptide technology in the coming months, either by doing some studies on the effectiveness of a micro sponge for topical application or combining the product with another vehicle.
As far as what product that may be, we'll be looking for something that qualifies as a targeted delivery mechanism. However, these are long term possibilities, not something that would be happening in the next 12 to 18 months."
American Crew's new
products will target both men and women with thinning hair, and with
an already well established distribution channel of over 35,000
salons in the US and over 40 countries in the world, it's safe to
say that one huge step has been made in bringing legitimate
treatments off the internet and into the public eye.
Get your Tricomin
Products Online Here:
No portion of this
newsletter may be used without the permission of HairlossSucks.com.
You may contact us at news@HairlossSucks.com
if you wish to reproduce an article on your site.
|