Clascoterone for hair loss: what the 539% headline actually means

Clascoterone is designed to block the hormone signal that shrinks hair follicles, right at the scalp.¹² The two trials were phase 3, and the results so far come from Cosmo Pharmaceuticals, the company behind them. They have not yet been published in a medical journal.¹²³

Where does 539% come from?

It comes from the first results, released in December 2025: one trial showed a 539% relative improvement in hair count over placebo, and the other 168%.¹⁴ Both figures compare the hair gained on the drug with the hair gained on placebo, and the company has not published the hair counts behind them.¹ The company's CEO told Fierce Pharma that the gap between the two trials comes entirely from different starting hair counts, not from the drug working differently. His reasoning: when two trials see a similar gain in hair count but start from different hair counts, the one that started with fewer hairs shows the bigger percentage.⁴ Dermatology Times wrote that a gap this size is not unusual in hair research, where results often vary with how advanced the hair loss was, who was enrolled in each region, or how each study site counted.⁵ So no, it doesn't mean five times more hair on your head.¹⁵

What happened after a year, and what are the side effects?

Twelve-month data released in April 2026 showed that men who stayed on it kept gaining hair.² For the second six months, the men who had responded to clascoterone in the first six were split again: some stayed on clascoterone, and the rest were switched to placebo from month 7.²⁶ Those who were switched lost some of the hair they had gained.² If you know minoxidil and finasteride, that will sound familiar: they help while you use them.⁷⁸⁹

Over 12 months, the company reported side effects similar to placebo and no significant hormonal side effects across the body.² A dermatologist who worked on the trials told Healio that over the year the men on clascoterone had no significant hormonal side effects, such as sexual problems.⁶ The dermatologist has disclosed financial ties to the company's subsidiary.⁶⁴ The full safety data have not been published yet.²³

How is clascoterone different from finasteride?

Finasteride is a pill that works on hormones across your whole body, while clascoterone is meant to work locally, in the scalp.⁷⁹² Some men who take finasteride get sexual side effects, such as a lower sex drive or trouble getting an erection.⁷⁹ Right now only two medicines are FDA-approved for male pattern hair loss: minoxidil and finasteride.⁷ Clascoterone itself was approved in the US in 2020, as a 1% cream for acne.¹⁰ The hair trials tested a 5% solution, not that cream.¹¹¹ Both trials compared it with placebo, not with finasteride, so there is no data yet on which works better.¹¹¹²

Had a hair transplant? Read this part

Transplanted follicles come from the back and sides of your head, where hair resists balding, so they tend to stay.¹³¹⁴ The hair around them doesn't get that protection. It can keep thinning, so the fuller look a transplant gives can fade over the years.¹⁵¹⁶ One caveat: both trials excluded men who had ever had a hair transplant, and men who had used finasteride in the previous six months or minoxidil on the scalp in the previous 12 weeks. So there's no published data yet on using clascoterone after a transplant, or together with either medicine.¹¹¹²¹⁷ Ask your own doctor about a plan to protect the hair you still have.¹⁵

Is clascoterone available for hair loss yet?

No. You can't get it for hair loss today: it is not approved for that anywhere, and the company only plans to apply in 2027, in the US in the first quarter and in Europe in the second.³¹⁰ In Turkey, no clascoterone product is licensed at all, not even the acne cream.¹⁸ So be careful with anything sold online under this name.

If you're losing hair, have a doctor diagnose it first, because not all hair loss is male pattern.⁷⁸ And if you're weighing up a transplant, you can ask your own questions on Glojour. Glojour's treatment library covers hair transplants and other procedures.

This article is general information. Decisions about your own treatment belong with your doctor.