Skin Patch Shows Promise Desensitizing Patients with Peanut Allergy

Peanut allergy affects approximately 2 percent of children in the United States, Canada and other westernized countries, and it commonly persists into adulthood. Life-threatening allergic reactions can be triggered by unintentional exposure to minute quantities, including through products manufactured on shared equipment as peanuts. Currently, there are no approved treatments for peanut-allergic children younger than 4 years of age.

A global phase 3 clinical trial found that a year-long immunotherapy through a skin patch safely desensitized toddlers with peanut allergy, lowering the risk of a severe allergic reaction from accidental exposure. 

“Children who originally reacted to a small fraction of a peanut were able to tolerate the equivalent of one to four peanuts after completing the treatment course. This means that these children will be well protected from accidental exposure to peanuts. Importantly, we found that the peanut patch was safe, with very low chances of a severe allergic reaction.” said Melanie Makhija, MD, who was the Principal Investigator of the study.

Sources:

Matthew Greenhawt, Sayantani B. Sindher, Julie Wang, Michael O’Sullivan, George du Toit, Edwin H. Kim, Deborah Albright, Sara Anvari, Nicolette Arends, Peter D. Arkwright, Philippe Bégin, Katharina Blumchen, Thierry Bourrier, Terri Brown-Whitehorn, Heather Cassell, Edmond S. Chan, Christina E. Ciaccio, Antoine Deschildre, Amandine Divaret-Chauveau, Stacy L. Dorris, Morna J. Dorsey, Thomas Eiwegger, Michel Erlewyn-Lajeunesse, David M. Fleischer, Lara S. Ford, Maria Garcia-Lloret, Lisa Giovannini-Chami, Jonathan O. Hourihane, Nicola Jay, Stacie M. Jones, Leigh Ann Kerns, Kirsten M. Kloepfer, Stephanie Leonard, Guillaume Lezmi, Jay A. Lieberman, Jeanne Lomas, Melanie Makhija, Christopher Parrish, Jane Peake, Kirsten P. Perrett, Daniel Petroni, Wolfgang Pfützner, Jacqueline A. Pongracic, Patrick Quinn, Rachel G. Robison, Georgiana Sanders, Lynda Schneider, Hemant P. Sharma, Juan Trujillo, Paul J. Turner, Katherine Tuttle, Julia E. Upton, Pooja Varshney, Brian P. Vickery, Christian Vogelberg, Brynn Wainstein, Robert A. Wood, Katharine J. Bee, Dianne E. Campbell, Todd D. Green, Rihab Rouissi, Aurélie Peillon, Henry T. Bahnson, Timothée Bois, Hugh A. Sampson, A. Wesley Burks. Phase 3 Trial of Epicutaneous Immunotherapy in Toddlers with Peanut Allergy. New England Journal of Medicine, 2023; 388 (19): 1755 DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa2212895

Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. “Skin patch shows promise for toddlers with peanut allergy: Lurie Children’s clinical trials program for food allergies contributed to global study.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 23 May 2023. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/05/230523123752.htm>.

Images from:

Photo by Vladislav Kikonov

https://unsplash.com/photos/13lLAWadKwU