peanut allergy drug approved by the US

The US has approved its first drug AR101 or Palforzia which uses oral immunotherapy treatment for peanut allergies in children given in tiny but increasing doses of peanut protein over a six-month period under medical supervision.

The treatment is not a cure and makers warn that the risk of a potentially fatal anaphylactic reaction remains.

Peanuts are the most common food allergen in the US, with an increase in the number of those affected by food allergies across the West in recent decades.

Trials to desensitise patients with peanut allergies have previously taken place in the US and elsewhere, the drug is the first to be approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The drug has not yet been authorised for use in the UK.

Palforzia has been approved for use in patients aged between 4 and 17, comes in the form of a powder which is sprinkled on food.

Scientists at the King’s College London said that oral immunotherapy offered “protection but not cure” for peanut allergies, with treatment only effective while patients continued taking small amounts of the allergen.