Propecia Charity Challenge

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ATLANTA BASEBALL PRO WALT WEISS WINS HAIR GROWTH CHALLENGE

Pro baseball players tip their caps to reveal the winner of the
"Charity Challenge with Propecia" 

ATLANTA, July 11, 2000 -- In the final play at home plate, Atlanta shortstop Walt Weiss got the sign of victory from the umpire when seven professional baseball players gathered on all-star day and tipped their caps to reveal the winner of the "Charity Challenge with Propecia".

Weiss, along with fellow baseball players Sandy Alomar, Jr., Gary Gaetti, Todd Greene, Stan Javier, Bret Saberhagen and John Smoltz, announced on last year’s all-star day that they would take Propecia^® (finasteride) for one year to see who would have the best response in regrowing or maintaining hair, and to raise money for their selected charities.  Propecia is the only FDA-approved pill to treat certain types of male pattern hair loss.

"I’m excited that I came out on top in the Challenge," Weiss said.  "I joined the Challenge because it was a good thing to do for charity and because my hair loss bothered me.  The Challenge was a win-win -- it helped my charity and my hair.  I think Propecia really worked for me and I’m sticking with it even now that the Challenge is over."

For participating, each player’s designated charity received $25,000 from Merck & Co., Inc., maker of Propecia.  The Lois Joy Galler Foundation is getting an additional $25,000 for Weiss coming out on top in the Challenge, bringing the total amount donated to $200,000.

Linda Stein-Gold, M.D., associate director of clinical research at the Henry Ford Medical Center’s Department of Dermatology in West Bloomfield, Mich., selected the winner based on a review of "before" and "after" photographs and examinations of the players’ scalps.

"It’s been a very exciting year keeping an eye on the competing players and hearing about their experiences with Propecia.  It’s important to keep in mind that this was not a clinical study and that the winner’s results are not necessarily representative of what all men can expect.  Propecia does not work in everybody," said Dr. Stein-Gold.  "What’s important is for each guy who wants to do something about his hair loss to find out more by talking to his doctor."

"I had nothing to lose and everything to gain by raising money for charity and having the chance to maintain what I have," said Saberhagen.  "So, I would just recommend to men who think that they have a hair loss problem to go and see their doctor and talk to their physician about Propecia."

Tried by more than 600,000 men

The players are among the more than 600,000 men in the U.S. who have taken Propecia, a prescription product used for the treatment of male pattern hair loss in men only.  In clinical studies, safety and efficacy were demonstrated in men with mild to moderate male pattern hair loss of the vertex, or top of the head, and anterior mid-scalp areas.  There is not sufficient evidence that Propecia works for recession at the temporal areas.  If the drug does not show results within 12 months, further treatment is unlikely to be of benefit.  If treatment is stopped, the hair that is gained is likely to be lost within 12 months.

Clinical tests showed Propecia was very well tolerated.  Only a very small number of men had some sexual side effects.  These included less desire for sex, difficulty in achieving an erection and a decrease in the amount of semen.  Each of these occurred in less than 2 percent of men.  When the men who had these side effects stopped taking Propecia, the side effects went away.

Important cautionary information regarding women

            Propecia is for men only.  Propecia is not for use in women or children.  Women who are or may potentially be pregnant must not use Propecia because of the risk that the active ingredient may cause abnormalities of a male baby’s sex organs.  Likewise, these women must avoid handling the tablets when they’re crushed or broken.  Propecia tablets are coated, which will prevent contact with the active ingredient during normal handling.

Propecia:  In clinical studies, most men benefited

            In clinical studies with 1,553 men aged 18 to 41 with mild to moderate hair loss at the vertex, a hair count assessment showed that 5 out of 6 (83 percent) men treated with Propecia maintained their hair count or experienced an increase in hair count.  Only 17 percent of men treated with Propecia had hair loss over the two years, while 72 percent of men on placebo had hair loss by 24 months.  In those studies, the panel of dermatologists who reviewed photographs at 24 months rated 2 out of 3 (66 percent) men treated with Propecia as improved (30 percent were slightly improved, 31 percent were moderately improved and 5 percent were greatly improved), while only 7 percent of men who received placebo were rated as improved after two years.  When men were evaluated by their clinical investigators at two years in those studies, the investigators rated more men on Propecia as improved compared with those on placebo (80 percent vs. 47 percent).  Most men reported an increase in the amount of hair, a decrease in hair loss and improvement in appearance.