Researchers at Unicamp have developed a method capable of replicating hair follicles in the laboratory from a small sample of the patient's own body, between 50 and 120 units, to produce a larger volume of viable follicles for transplantation. The technology, still in the pre-clinical phase, could open the procedure to a group currently considered ineligible for conventional transplantation: patients without sufficient donor area, as well as people who have lost hair due to chemotherapy or burns.
The method was created by a team from the Institute of Biology (IB) and the Faculty of Medical Sciences (FCM) at Unicamp, bringing together expertise in nanotechnology, cell culture, and regenerative medicine. The starting point was a demand identified by partner hair transplant surgeons, who frequently have to refuse patients due to insufficient donor area – usually at the nape of the neck and the sides of the head, where the follicles are removed for implantation.
In the laboratory, the collected follicles are "disassembled" using reagents, releasing distinct cell types such as keratinocytes, stem cells, and mesenchymal cells. These cells are cultured in flasks with appropriate culture medium until they multiply. They are then transferred to special plates that induce the formation of three-dimensional structures called organoids, which replicate the architecture of the original follicle and initiate hair growth.
“We take the raw material from the person themselves, thus reducing the possibility of rejection. If we take some of that person's follicles and expand them in the laboratory, we will have many more follicles to perform the transplant. In this way, people who are not eligible because they don't have a donor area end up having an opportunity,” explains IB doctoral student André Lopes Ferreira, who participated in the development of the new technique.
The research follows a phased development protocol and is currently in the characterization and in vitro study phase , with an estimated 18 months to complete the full pre-clinical phase, which also includes animal testing. Only after this stage will the method be submitted for evaluation in humans, following internationally established regulatory protocols for therapeutic solutions.
Technology expands the population eligible for transplants.
For patients with advanced alopecia, that is, those who do not have enough follicles for conventional transplantation, the technology represents a second chance to access treatment. In the traditional model, a surgeon removes follicles from the donor area and implants them manually, one by one, in a procedure that can last eight to ten hours. With the new method, the surgeon receives the follicles already expanded and selected by the laboratory, which can reduce the surgical time to about two hours. Thus, the patient's physical stress is relieved and the precision of the procedure is increased, since surgeon fatigue during a long surgery is a recognized factor in reducing the success rate.
The proposal is equally promising for cancer patients. Before the start of chemotherapy, it would be possible to collect and store follicles in liquid nitrogen or in freezers at -80°C. With the cryopreservation protocol under development, these follicles could be thawed and multiplied in the future to replace hair lost during treatment, a particularly relevant prospect for women, who often do not regain hair with the same density after chemotherapy.
"For those facing a difficult treatment like cancer, knowing that they may be able to regrow their hair later on can bring enormous relief in dealing with the disease," says Wagner Fávaro, professor at IB and responsible for developing the know-how.
Post-operative recovery should also be positively affected. Since the expanded follicles undergo a quality selection process before implantation, it is expected that the most resistant ones will be prioritized, reducing the inflammatory process and accelerating the recovery period. After the pre-clinical phase, the clinical follow-up protocol for patients should last 24 months, according to the researchers' estimate, with monthly evaluations that include examinations, scalp mapping, and hormonal monitoring. The group emphasizes that the results of the technology depend not only on the implant itself, but on the entire ecosystem of continuous care surrounding the procedure.
From a scientific standpoint, the main challenge that remains unresolved globally is ensuring that follicles produced in the laboratory retain the patient's original characteristics, such as texture, curvature, and color, without the multiplication process altering these properties. The Unicamp team believes that, because they start from the primary follicle's own cells, the tendency is for the characteristics to be preserved, but the definitive protocol is still being established.
Fávaro goes further and envisions an even broader horizon. “Since we will know the characteristics of each follicle in depth, we will be able to select them. If the patient wants a different hair type, we will be able to predict that. If this possibility materializes, the number of transplants could increase significantly,” he states.
Academic spin-off
To enable the transfer of technology to the market, a joint venture was formed between Aeter Biotech and the company of hair surgeon Thiago Bianco, called Aeter Bianco. Aeter Biotech is an academic spin-off from Unicamp, a business model in which the core of the business is a technology or knowledge generated within the University and whose central purpose is to bring this knowledge to the market and, consequently, to society. Unlike a conventional company, which may eventually license a patent or knowledge generated in the university environment, the academic spin-off is born with the purpose of expanding the reach of research results beyond the academic sphere.
The Inova Unicamp Innovation Agency supported the company's project, working to protect intellectual property, transfer know-how , and register the spin-off as a subsidiary of the University. "The Innovation Agency plays a crucial role in any and all technologies developed," says Fávaro. Aeter Bianco, along with Aeter Biotech, is part of an ecosystem of more than 60 academic spin-offs from Unicamp, mapped by Inova Unicamp.
The next steps involve completing the pre-clinical phase, submitting the project for human clinical trials, and, in the medium term, transferring the technology to qualified clinics and surgeons. Aeter Bianco does not intend to operate as an aesthetic clinic or industry, but as a supplier of high-potential innovation technology for the medical sector. The founders' vision is even broader, as they want Brazil to "start exporting this type of solution. Beginning with the hair transplant market, which moves billions of dollars globally and still lacks effective alternatives for the most complex cases," concludes Fávaro.
Inventors Award 2026
In its 19th edition, the Unicamp Inventors Award, organized by Inova Unicamp, recognizes and values inventors who have excelled in the transfer of technologies from the University and in the creation of academic spin-off companies.
Award-winning inventors:
Wagner José Fávaro, João Carlos Cardoso Alonso, and André Lopes Ferreira were awarded prizes in the Licensed Intellectual Property category in 2026.
Check out the complete list of all award winners on the Unicamp Inventors Award website.
2026 Tribute Program
In celebration of the 2026 Inventors Award, Inova Unicamp organized a series of tributes. Among them are reports highlighting award-winning cases from this year, available to read on the Inova Unicamp and Inventors Award websites.
Continuing the celebrations, on August 4th, Inova is hosting an in-person event to share challenges, lessons learned, and opportunities in using artificial intelligence in innovation processes and the creation of spin-off companies at the University. Participation is open to the public. Register for free here.
The 2026 Inventors Award has the institutional support of Lumina , the Unicamp Endowment Fund, and is sponsored by ClarkeModet and FM2S.
Article originally published on the Inova Unicamp website.
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