Western Hair-Loss Drugs Becoming Popular In China, Study Shows

Hair-loss drugs from Western companies, including Merck's Propecia and Johnson & Johnson's Rogaine, are becoming popular in China, where luxuriant hair is a sign of health and virility. Sales of hair-loss treatments, most of which come with Rogaine's active ingredient, minoxidil, increased 90 percent to 100.7 million yuan in the five-year period ending in 2012, according to Euromonitor International. Results of a survey of 1,280 balding men in several cities by the China Association of Health Promotion and Education revealed 47 percent of respondents said they had used hair-growth shampoos, visited hair-loss centers, or even resorted to swallowing snake gallbladders. The top hair-loss treatment in China in terms of sales in 2012 was Da Fei Xin, a minoxidil solution from Shanxi Zhendong Pharmaceutical, which accounted for 23 percent of the market.