Avodart (Dutasteride)
Avodart is a prescription medicine that is FDA approved for treating Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH) or an enlarged prostate. However while researching the drug they realized people taking the medicine were growing hair. When they realized that they started doing clinical trials for use for hair loss. The dosage they were using in the study for treating hair loss ranged from 0.05 to 2.5 mg, one pill per day; 0.5 mg was effective and 2.5 mg was superior.
This medicine works similar to Propecia in that it inhibits the conversion of testosterone into DHT by the 5a-reductase enzyme. The difference is Dutasteride inhibits by Type I and Type II. The clinical trial showed that Type I could potentially be linked to hair loss since it is found in the scalp, but more research is needed and that is research that will probably never get done.
The clinical trials were successful but for whatever reason GlaxoSmithKline discontinued their research on the drug for treating hair loss. We believe they stopped the research because they felt the cost to get the drug to market wasn't worth how much they felt it would generate in income. But some doctors use the 0.5 mg pill once a day for patients that got side effects from Propecia.
If you are interested in seeing the clinical trial that was performed on Dutasteride for hair loss, you can click here to purchase the study directly from the publisher.
