Asthma drug cuts danger from food allergens: study

A drug long used to treat asthma can help protect people from dangerous - even fatal - food allergies.

After treatment 67 per cent of the children were able to tolerate a small amount of peanut protein without symptoms. Picture: Supplied

A drug long used to treat asthma can help protect people from dangerous – even fatal – food allergies, a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found.

The study tested the drug Xolair (chemical name omalizumab) on 118 children known to be allergic to peanuts and at least one other food, like milk or eggs.

The survey, carried out at 10 US medical centres and funded partly by the US National ­Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, found that after treatment 67 per cent of the children were able to tolerate a small amount of peanut protein without symptoms. Of 59 other children given a placebo, only 7 per cent were able to do so.

Presented today at #AAAAI24:

In this trial involving 180 persons with food allergies, omalizumab was effective in increasing the reaction threshold for peanut and other common food allergens. Full trial results: https://t.co/FKbAqMmw6ppic.twitter.com/ozNMX8ixxm

— NEJM (@NEJM) February 25, 2024

The US Food and Drug ­Administration approved the drug’s use for food allergies in adults and children as young as one earlier this month. It was ­approved more than 20 years ago for use against allergic asthma.

But scientists cautioned that the drug does not mean the ­allergy-prone can completely drop their guard; they must still try to avoid known allergens. But the drug should reduce dangerous reactions. Xolair is administered, by injection, every two to four weeks.

The treatment could be “life-changing” for people who have had to live in constant fear of unwittingly consuming even a trace of an allergen, said study leader Robert Wood of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Severe allergic reactions ­account for about 30,000 emergency-room visits a year in the US.

AFP