ALBAWABA – Omalizumab was originally approved in 2003 for the treatment of moderate to severe persistent allergic asthma, however it recently received an approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to Limit Allergic Reactions to Several Foods Following Unintentional Exposure, with a new study published on Sunday showing the efficacy of the drug.
The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, tested treatment with Omalizumab on 177 children and adolescents ages 1 to 17 years and three adults ages 18 to 55 years with confirmed severe allergies to peanuts for a period of four months, in contrast to just 7% of individuals who received a placebo, 67% of those who took the medication were able to consume an amount of two or three peanuts without experiencing a major response.
The medication is a monoclonal antibody which targets the IgE subtype of human antibodies. Immune cells create IgE, like other antibodies, in response to the body seeing a particular protein as dangerous. However, if that protein—like cat dander or peanut protein—is an allergen, the IgE will create excessive inflammation that might send the body into anaphylactic shock.
Ruchi Gupta, a paediatrician at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, Illinois, has according to Nature described having such treatment as “wonderful” for patients dealing with severe allergies, despite her notes that the drug does not provide a cure for allergies, but reduces the possibility that consuming even a tiny bit of the meal would have disastrous consequences.
Omalizumab offers a potential remedy, but it is not without drawbacks. The medication doesn't make it unnecessary to be cautious about allergy exposure; regular injections are still necessary. On the other hand, it does provide a previously unavailable layer of safety by dramatically reducing the likelihood of potentially fatal responses.
