43% Improvement in Hair Breakage Resistance. Scalp Redness Down 14%. Singapore's CellResearch Presents Breakthrough Hair Data at AMWC Japan

Two independent laboratory studies on PTT-6^®, the cord lining stem cell active from Singapore's CellResearch Corporation, deliver standards-based evidence on hair fiber strength and scalp condition — as the global hair and scalp care category climbs from USD 93.6 billion to USD 150.5 billion by 2033.

SINGAPORE, Sept. 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- In a breakthrough, Singapore-based biotechnology pioneer CellResearch Corporation; the discoverers of stem cells within the umbilical cord lining membrane have unveiled new lab results proving its patented active complex, PTT-6^®, radically improves hair resilience and scalp health. The proprietary technology currently powers CALECIM^® Professional, one of the fastest-growing brands in the global medical hair and scalp care sector.

Conducted by an independent testing facility following standardized industry benchmarks, the findings, reported on August 4 and September 8, 2026, provide rare, objective proof for two factors crucial to hair longevity: structural tensile strength and skin tolerance under harsh chemical stress. While many consumer hair brands promise strength and soothing relief, few validate these claims with hard, clinical metrics.

The findings formed the centerpiece of a medical address delivered on September 13, 2026, at the Aesthetic and Anti-Aging Medicine World Congress (AMWC) Japan in Tokyo. Presented jointly by Dr. Ivor Lim, consultant plastic surgeon and Group Chief Medical Officer at CellResearch Corporation, and Dr. Mikiko Hiraoka, board-certified dermatologist and founder of Tokyo's Ginza Richesse Clinic, the presentation highlighted the real-world clinical implications of PTT-6^® in advanced scalp restoration.

With these results, CellResearch Corporation is accelerating the international footprint of its professional cosmeceutical brand, CALECIM^® Professional. The expansion targets a global hair and scalp care market projected at USD 93.6 billion in 2026, where formulas addressing hair loss, thinning, and scalp health represent the fastest-growing sector.

STRONGER HAIR: 43% IMPROVEMENT IN BREAKAGE RESISTANCE

In mechanical hair testing, "breaking work" measures the physical energy required to fracture a hair fiber, providing an objective benchmark for how much routine stress a strand can absorb before giving way. Raising this threshold is critical because hair breakage is cumulative rather than immediate: daily brushing, heat styling, and chemical treatments progressively reduce the fiber's structural reserve until the strand fails under tension.

In laboratory testing, bleached human hair treated with PTT-6^® demonstrated a 43% improvement in breaking work compared with untreated hair from the same batch.

For salon professionals and colorists, this increase in structural resilience means hair can better withstand intensive chemical services, such as bleaching, perming, and thermal straightening, with significantly reduced risk of post-treatment snapping.

SCALP HEALTH: REDUCING INFLAMMATION TO SUPPORT HAIR LONGEVITY

Scalp sensitivity and irritation frequently disrupt long-term hair care regimens and limit the use of high-performance chemical treatments. By calming micro-inflammation, scalp care formulas can better support the healthy follicular environment required for sustained hair growth and retention.

In a 28-day human study evaluating PTT-6® Scalp Activating Mist, once-daily application yielded a 14% measured reduction in scalp redness (p = 0.016), with 100% of participants confirming that the formula soothed irritation. Longer-term 12-week clinical evaluations demonstrated a 22% decrease in trans-epidermal water loss alongside a 45% increase in scalp moisture, effectively halving trichologist-assessed scalp sensitivity within one month. 

At the cellular level, in vitro models showed that PTT-6^® suppressed inflammatory signals (the cytokine TNF-alpha) by up to 30-fold, while increasing dermal papilla cell proliferation by 24%. By mitigating inflammatory cascades while simultaneously strengthening hair fiber resilience, PTT-6^® offers salons and consumers a double benefit: protecting scalp health during advanced technical treatments while ensuring long-term hair quality and longevity.

HAIR GROWTH: MULTI-CENTER CLINICAL VALIDATION AND COMPLETE ARCHITECTURE

Beyond strengthening existing fibers and calming the scalp, multi-center international data confirms PTT-6^® directly drives visible hair regrowth and density. Across eight independent trials in six countries (including the USA, the UK, Singapore, Australia, Austria, and China), treatment evaluated in 238 patients yielded positive clinical responses in 225 cases: a 94% overall response rate. In a focused 12-week clinical study of 35 patients, quantitative photographic analysis demonstrated a 14% increase in total hair count and a 16% increase in average hair shaft thickness.

While hair care formulations typically target strength, scalp health, or growth in isolation through separate products, PTT-6^® provides a unified biotherapeutic platform with clinical validation across all three metrics simultaneously. For professionals and consumers, this comprehensive mechanism provides the foundation for total hair longevity: expanding density and diameter at the root while protecting physical fiber integrity against everyday damage.

"We are thrilled to see that our active ingredient has powerful applications not only in skincare and hair regrowth, but in scalp health and in the strength of the hair strand itself. Each of those is a substantial market in its own right, and each is growing. More than twenty years of research now allows us to address all of them from a single platform."

Gavin Tan, Chief Executive Officer, CellResearch Corporation

"What interests me as a dermatologist is the combination. A calmer scalp, more hair and a stronger strand are usually three separate conversations with a patient, and here they sit together. The scalp findings match what I see in clinic: redness settles first, and the rest follows. I am pleased to be able to offer this to my own patients."

Dr Mikiko Hiraoka, board-certified dermatologist and founder, Ginza Richesse Clinic, Tokyo

"I see the same story in the chair every day: color, heat and time. Hair reaches a certain length and then starts breaking off faster than it grows. Since we brought the CALECIM^® haircare range in, the results for hair longevity have been transformative. Clients are keeping length they would have lost, and the hair holds up far better through a color service."

Tom Smith, hairstylist, Aevum Salon, CALECIM^® Brand Ambassador, London

"Scalp is where I start with every client now. If the scalp is tight or irritated, nothing you put on the hair afterwards lasts. The CALECIM^® haircare range has changed that conversation in my chair. Clients are coming back with calmer, healthier scalps, and the hair growing through looks better for it."

Alfredo Lewis, hairstylist, CALECIM^® Brand Ambassador, Los Angeles

THE MARKET: A USD 93.6 BILLION CATEGORY ADDING USD 57 BILLION BY 2033

The economics behind these findings are substantial.

• Global hair and scalp care was worth USD 88.2 billion in 2025 and USD 93.6 billion in 2026 and is forecast to reach USD 150.5 billion by 2033 — a 7.0% CAGR, and close to USD 57 billion of new value created within seven years. (Grand View Research)
• Hair loss and thinning products are the fastest-growing segment, forecast to compound at 8.6% a year to 2033 — materially ahead of the category as a whole. (Grand View Research)
• The dedicated hair loss treatment products market alone is USD 3.14 billion in 2026, rising to USD 4.45 billion by 2031 at a 7.19% CAGR. (Mordor Intelligence)
• Asia Pacific is both the largest regional haircare market, at 35.3% of global revenue, and the fastest-growing region for hair loss treatment, at an 8.78% CAGR to 2031. (Grand View Research; Mordor Intelligence)
• Asia Pacific professional scalp treatment is a USD 1.17 billion market in its own right, heading to USD 1.61 billion by 2031. Per-capita spending on scalp wellness in Japan and South Korea exceeded USD 50 a year in 2025, among the highest in the world — part of why AMWC Japan was chosen for the presentation. (Mordor Intelligence)
• Shampoo still accounts for 39.8% of category revenue; a mass-market base on which clinically evidenced, higher-value scalp and fiber treatments are the premium growth layer. (Grand View Research)

Most of that market competes on formulation and marketing rather than clinical evidence. CALECIM^® Professional sells through clinics and salons; a channel in which a practitioner must be able to defend a recommendation to a paying client, and where data of the kind released today is the product rather than the packaging.

CALECIM® Professional is currently sold in 40 markets through more than 7,000 clinic and salon partners and direct via calecim.com. Over the next year the company plans to expand into North American retail.

ABOUT PTT-6^®

Stem cells communicate with the cells around them by releasing proteins. PTT-6^® is that conversation, captured and used as a patented ingredient: the secretome of red deer umbilical cord lining mesenchymal stem cells, a mixture of more than 3,000 proteins including growth factors, cytokines and exosomes. It is produced under a controlled cosmetic GMP process to approximately 99% purity and is the active platform across the CALECIM^® Professional range. In a 50-subject repeat insult patch test (BioScreen Testing Services, study no. 17-621A), PTT-6^® showed no indication of dermal irritation or sensitization, with no adverse reactions reported.

ABOUT CALECIM^® PROFESSIONAL

CALECIM^® Professional is a professional skincare and haircare brand built on cord lining stem cell science. Its products are used by dermatologists, aesthetic physicians, trichologists and hair professionals across 40 markets and more than 7,000 clinics and salon partners.

ABOUT CELLRESEARCH CORPORATION

CellResearch Corporation is a Singapore-based biotechnology group founded in 2002 on the discovery that the umbilical cord lining membrane is an unusually rich and pure source of stem cells. It holds eleven families of patents granted in more than 70 territories and operates two arms from the same platform. CellResearch Therapeutics is developing CORLICYTE^®, a cord lining stem cell therapy now moving into Phase 2 under the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), with Innovative Licensing and Access Pathway (ILAP) status awarded by the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. CellResearch Consumer Health commercializes the same biology as a cosmetic ingredient, PTT-6^®, through the CALECIM^® Professional brand.

MEDIA CONTACT

Laura Thompson
[email protected]
calecim.com • cellresearchcorp.com

Market data sources

• Hair and scalp care category: USD 88.2bn (2025), USD 93.6bn (2026), USD 150.45bn (2033), 7.0% CAGR 2026–2033. Shampoo 39.8% of revenue (2025). Hair loss and thinning segment 8.6% CAGR 2026–2033. Asia Pacific 35.3% of global revenue (2025). Grand View Research, Hair and Scalp Care Market Report, 2026–2033.
• Hair loss treatment products: USD 3.14bn (2026), USD 4.45bn (2031), 7.19% CAGR; Asia Pacific fastest-growing region at 8.78% CAGR to 2031. Mordor Intelligence.
• Professional channel: Asia Pacific professional scalp treatment products USD 1.17bn (2026), USD 1.61bn (2031), 6.57% CAGR; salon channel 5.05% CAGR. Combined Japan and South Korea per-capita spending on scalp wellness above USD 50 a year as of 2025. Mordor Intelligence.

Assets available on request

High-resolution product imagery; instrumental scalp-redness mapping images (baseline vs day 28) for five representative subjects; breaking-work and a* value charts; the two full Hangzhou C&K test reports; speaker headshots and biographies; interview availability with Dr Ivor Lim and Dr Mikiko Hiraoka.

Study 1 — Anti-hair-breakage (fibre strength) evidencing 43% improvement

• Laboratory: Hangzhou C&K Testing Technic Co., Ltd, an independent testing house. Report no. CN26070675EN, issued 4 August 2026.
• Standard: T/GDCA 026-2023, Test Method for Anti-Hair Breakage Efficacy of Hair Products.

Study 2 — Scalp redness and soothing (28-day human use) evidencing 14% redness reduction

• Laboratory: Hangzhou C&K Testing Technic Co., Ltd. Report no. CN26070788EN, issued 8 September 2026.
• Standard: T/TDCA 006-2022, Cosmetic Consumer Use Test, with T/CAB 0152-2022 soothing efficacy methods.

SOURCE CellResearch Corporation