A path-breaking research could bring a new drug to the market that may be the probable cure for the life-threatening peanut allergy in children.
This week, the research work was published in the New England Journal of Medicine and the results of this study brought the drug called AR101 to light. The drug has been developed by Aimmune Therapeutics and its placebo-controlled, double-blinded trial was published in the journal on Thursday. The oral doses are said to increase the allergic patients’ tolerance to peanuts, reducing the risks of fatal threats due to their accidental intake. This drug is also designed to reduce the fear and anxiety of exposure to peanuts in children and patients with severe peanut allergies.
The experiments for the usage of this drug proved to be quite successful. 327 children underwent the treatment for six months and then six months of maintenance therapy. Two-thirds of them were able to tolerate the peanut protein equivalent to about two peanuts without showing any symptoms of allergy. However, the treatment did not go well for everybody. About 4.3% of children experienced side-effects from this therapy.
Even then, till date this was the first and the largest successful peanut allergy immunotherapy trial. Therefore, it is expected that the demand for this new drug will be high. Patients and their advocates are already concerned about the price the drug will be sold at.
One out of every fifty Americans suffers from the pernicious peanut allergy and they cannot outgrow it, so the allergy persists throughout their lives. The drug brings new hope to eliminate the dangers that the accidental intake of peanuts bring to the patients.