Exosomes and hair loss: the promise and the legal position

An exosome is a very small vesicle, released by a cell and containing proteins and genetic material. Cells use them to communicate with one another. Applied to hair, the idea is to collect these vesicles, most often from stem cells, and place them on the scalp to send the follicle a growth signal.

On paper it is elegant: you no longer inject cells, nor plasma, but the message cells send each other.

Why it is talked about so much

Because the early work is encouraging, and because the subject lends itself to a sales pitch. An exosome is invisible, its mechanism is complex, and the word belongs to a laboratory vocabulary that inspires confidence. That is exactly the ground on which unverifiable promises flourish.

The point that changes everything

No exosome-based product is approved for the treatment of hair loss, either in Europe or in the United States. The American health authorities have issued several public warnings against clinics offering them, pointing out that none of these products has been approved and that some have caused serious infections.

The difficulty is not theoretical. An exosome is not a chemical molecule that can be reproduced identically: it is a biological product whose composition depends on the cell of origin, the culture medium and the extraction process. Two vials bearing the same name may not contain the same thing. That is precisely what a marketing authorisation exists to guarantee, and it is what is missing here.

Our position

The clinic has used and evaluated exosomes, as it has other approaches. It no longer offers them: their efficacy is not established, and no product is approved for this indication. This is not a judgement on the research, which is serious and deserves to be followed: the clinic keeps watch for new therapies whose value is firmly demonstrated.

Against hair loss, it favours the treatments whose efficacy is best established, finasteride and minoxidil. PRP, which has the merit of coming from the patient himself, is used mainly after a transplant, to support healing and the recovery of the scalp.

If you are offered them

Ask three questions. Where do the exosomes come from, and from which cells? Does the product have an approval for this indication, in which country and under what number? And which publications support the protocol being proposed?

These three questions are not hostile. They are the ones a practitioner who knows what he is injecting can answer in a minute.