2024-02-27 21:24:00
Active ingredient omalizumab
27 February 2024 22:24 Robert Klatt
Food allergies can be fatal. The asthma medication Xolair, which has been approved for decades, can prevent allergic reactions and thereby improve the lives of many people.
Baltimore (U.S.A.). The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the injectable drug Xolair for the treatment of allergic asthma more than 20 years ago. A study of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (JHUSOM) now shows that the drug can also inhibit reactions to several food allergies. According to the researchers, it might therefore be a potentially life-changing drug for many people.
According to the publication in New England Journal of Medicine Robert Wood’s researchers conducted a study with 180 test subjects between the ages of 1 and 55 who were diagnosed with a peanut allergy and at least two other food allergies. Study participants received injections of either the asthma medication or a placebo for 16 to 20 weeks.
Peanut tolerance is increasing
A majority of patients treated with the active ingredient omalizumab (66.9%) were then able to tolerate 600 milligrams (mg) or more of peanut protein. This is equivalent to regarding 2.5 peanuts. In the placebo group the proportion was significantly smaller (6.8%). Omalizumab can also prevent severe allergic reactions in most people to other common food allergens, including milk, eggs, wheat, cashews, walnuts and hazelnuts, according to the study data.
“The daily lives of food allergy patients are consumed by the fear of accidental exposure to food allergens. Our findings have the potential to be very meaningful and potentially even life-changing for people with food allergies.”
Food allergies are common
According to health data, at least eight percent of children and 10 percent of adults in the United States have one or more food allergies. In addition, a large proportion of the population (86%) is allergic to at least one food. Affected people have had to constantly pay attention to their diet because a severe food allergy can be fatal in the worst case.
To date, there are no approved treatments that inhibit or completely prevent allergic reactions. Researchers believe omalizumab might close this gap by increasing the threshold at which allergic reactions occur. This would significantly improve the quality of life for millions of people with food allergies. In response to the study, the FDA recently approved omalizumab for the treatment of several food allergies.
New England Journal of Medicine, doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2312382
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