Hair-growth market getting second wind

The Japan Times: Jan  2005

The hair restoration and hair growth stimulant market in Japan has emerged from the doldrums.

Industry sources said the size of the market grew last year for the first time in five years due to the marketing of reportedly powerful products by pharmaceutical and cosmetics makers.

More than 10 million men in Japan are estimated to suffer from early hair loss, and women are losing their hair due to excessive dieting. The cause of men's baldness is said to be hereditary or stress, but there are many unknowns.

A survey by Lion Corp. found that about 60 percent of men in their 20s to 50s are worried about thinning hair, and nearly 40 percent of men in their 50s have used hair restorers. Lion makes body-care products, including hair restorer. It is unclear when the survey was conducted.

In 1999, Taisho Pharmaceutical Co. began marketing RiUP, Japan's first hair-growth stimulant. It was an immediate hit. RiUP is based on a hair-growth drug developed in the United States.

Due to its relatively high price -- more than 5,000 yen a bottle -- and patchy results, sales of RiUP in fiscal 2003 were 17.7 billion yen, down 40 percent from a peak in fiscal 1999.

The hair tonic market has remained sluggish since 1999.

In 2003, companies started reviewing their business strategies because they do not have to sell products at low prices, and their profitability is high.

Sales last year reached 58 billion yen, up 0.4 percent over the year before, and further growth is expected this year.

In October 2003, Lion launched Innovate hair restorer, which the firm claims contains a hair-growing factor found in people with healthy hair. Innovate immediately captured a domestic market share close to 10 percent.

In June, Daiichi Pharmaceutical Co. launched Karoyan Gush hair-restorer, which the firm claims is also effective for women. The company says the product contains twice as much of a factor promoting blood circulation in the scalp as was used in the stimulant marketed 14 years ago. It said sales have been good.

Shiseido Co., Japan's leading cosmetics maker, is scheduled to launch Medicated Adenosine hair-restorer in March. The company claims that a gene study it conducted found that adenosine, DNA's composite factor, will increase hair growth.

Shiseido has set a sales target of 1 million bottles in fiscal 2005. But a company official said, "The target might be revised upward because there are already inquiries."

Taisho has applied to the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry for permission to market RiUP for women from this spring.