Skin patch to treat peanut allergy? Study in infants shows promise

Washington — An skin patch has shown potential to treat young children who are highly allergic to peanuts.

Peanut allergy is one of the most common and dangerous food allergy. Parents of allergic toddlers are always on alert for exposures that can turn birthday parties and play dates into emergency room visits.

There is no cure. The only treatment is for children over the age of 4 who can take a special peanut powder to protect against severe reactions.

A patch named Viaskin aims to provide that kind of treatment through the skin instead. A large-scale test of young people aged 1 to her 3 found that people who could not tolerate even a small portion of peanuts could finally safely eat a few, the study said. reported on Wednesday.

With additional testing, “this would fill a huge unmet need,” said Dr. Matthew Greenhort, an allergist at Children’s Hospital of Colorado, who led the study.

About 2% of children in the United States are allergic to peanuts, and even small amounts can cause life-threatening reactions in some children. Their immune system overreacts to foods containing peanuts, triggering an inflammatory cascade that causes hives, wheezing, and more. Rescue medication should be carried to prevent serious reactions if ingested.

In 2020, the Food and Drug Administration approved the first treatment to induce tolerance to peanuts. This is an “oral immunotherapy” named “Parforzia” that her 4-year-old to her 17-year-old takes daily to maintain protection. Her Palforzia from Aimmune Therapeutics has also been tested in infants.

France’s DBV Technologies is pursuing skin-based immunotherapy as an alternative way to reduce the body’s sensitivity to allergens.

Biaskin patches are coated with a small amount of peanut protein that is absorbed into the skin. The Daily Patch is worn between the shoulder blades where the infant cannot pull it off.

A new study first tested 362 infants with peanut allergies to see how well they could tolerate high doses of peanut protein. were randomly assigned to.

After a year of treatment, they were tested again and about two-thirds of the infants who used the real patch were able to safely consume more peanuts.

This equates to about a third of the dummy-patched youth. Greenhawt said it likely includes children who are overcoming allergies.

Regarding safety, four Viaskin recipients experienced an allergic reaction called anaphylaxis that was thought to be related to the patch. Three were treated with epinephrine to calm their reactions, and one dropped out of the study.

Some young people accidentally ate foods containing peanuts during the study, and researchers said allergic reactions were less frequent among Biaskin users than among those wearing dummy patches. The most common side effect was skin irritation at the patch site.

The findings were published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The results are “very good news for young children and their families as the next step toward a future with more treatments for food allergies,” said Dr. Alkis Togias of the National Institutes of Health, who was not involved in the study. I am writing. Accompanying editorial.

Togias cautioned that it’s premature to compare oral and skin treatments, but pointed to data suggesting that each may have different strengths and weaknesses, and that oral treatments are potent, but It increases the chance of causing more side effects.

DBV Technologies has struggled for several years to bring a peanut patch to market. The company announced last month that the FDA is seeking additional safety data in young children, and another study is already following longer-term treatment. .

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The Associated Press’ Health Sciences Division is supported by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science Education Division. AP is solely responsible for all content.