Forget GLP-1 stocks, baldness drugs are Wall Street’s next goldmine

Drugmakers found a money machine in GLP-1 obesity drugs, and investors are now hunting for the next cosmetic headache to monetize. Baldness is the current obsession. It affects an estimated 50 million men and 30 million women in the US, yet no new approved drug has arrived since the late 1990s.

That vacuum has already moved stocks. Veradermics, which trades as MANE, has climbed nearly 500% since going public in February. Absci’s shares have more than doubled in 2026. Cosmo NV, meanwhile, posted positive results for an experimental male hair-loss treatment, even as its Zurich-listed stock has lagged some US rivals.

The basic market is familiar: people who can’t get, or can’t pay for, a hair transplant are left choosing between minoxidil, the topical active ingredient in Rogaine, and finasteride, sold as Propecia. Both have baggage. Minoxidil is linked to heart palpitations, while finasteride can lower sex drive. That leaves room for something better, and Wall Street is treating the category like a cash-pay gold mine.

Cosmo is one of the names closest to a real product. Its topical clascoterone aims at the hormone pathway that drives male-pattern hair loss, and the company says it could be the biggest opportunity in its portfolio. Cosmo plans to file with US regulators in the first quarter of 2027. Jefferies estimates the therapy could eventually generate $3 billion in global sales, assuming the company finds a capable commercial partner.

Veradermics is pushing a tablet version of minoxidil after positive data in male-pattern hair loss in April and encouraging mid-stage results in women with thinning hair in July. If the FDA signs off, it would be the first approved pill for female-pattern hair loss. Absci is earlier still, with an AI-designed shot called ABS-201 and interim data due in the second half of this year. The pitch is obvious, even if the risk is not: drug development can mint fortunes or waste them, and baldness is not obesity. Still, the market is acting as if plenty of people will happily pay to keep what’s on top of their heads.