Asthma medication effective in preventing food allergies, study shows

Xolair, a drug already known and used to treat asthma, is effective in preventing allergic reactions linked to some foods, a study published ©e Sunday showed.

The American Medicines Agency (FDA) on February 16 authorized the treatment for this specific use and for adults and children over one year of age, at a time when food allergy concerns are growing in the country. The patients in the study who benefited from the treatment, all allergic children, were able to see a significant improvement in their tolerance to food products such as peanuts, tree nuts, eggs, milk and wheat, the release states. New England Journal of Medicine

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“Significantly reduces the occurrence of reactions”

These results show that such treatment “Can significantly reduce the incidence of allergic reactions to many foods in the event of accidental exposure”, Robert Wood, lead author of the study, said in a press release issued by Roche. The Swiss pharmaceutical giant owns California laboratory Genentech, which has been authorized by the FDA, and co-distributes Xolair with Novartis in the United States.

Omalizumab, the scientific name for Xolair, is a monoclonal antibody that blocks the action of antibodies that cause allergic reactions. At the end of a 16- to 20-week period of regular injections, 67% of patients who actually received omalizumab, for example, tolerated a 600 mg peanut dose, compared with only 7% of patients who received placebo.

4 to 8% of children in the United States are affected by food allergies

The study, funded by the US Department of Health, involved 177 children between the ages of 1 and 17. If these results are encouraging, they should not suggest that beneficiaries can resume consumption of the allergen, the FDA insists, whose aim is to reduce reactions in the event of accidental ingestion.

Xolair is considered safe, with the main associated side effects being fever and injection site reactions, she notes. Approved in 2003 for asthma, Xolair has since also been used to treat chronic spontaneous urticaria.

“Food allergy is an area of ​​concern for food safety and public health”. In the United States, we can read on the website of the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC). They concern about 2% of adults and “Between 4 and 8%” Children in the United States. Food allergies account for about 30,000 emergency room visits and 150 deaths each year in the country, according to authorities.