CAPSULE AGAINST PEANUT ALLERGY PASSES FIRST CLINICAL TRIAL
A cure for peanut allergies could soon be a reality. An experimental treatment that aims to help those with severe peanut allergy proved highly effective in a phase 3 clinical trial.
The result showed the capsules, called AR101, helped 67 percent of patients ages four to 17 tolerate at least a 600-mg dose of peanut protein at the end of the study, compared to just four percent of patients given a placebo. Patients entered the study unable to tolerate exposure to ten percent of one peanut. Six hundred milligrams of peanut protein is equivalent to about two peanuts, or a child-size bite from a peanut butter sandwich. AR101 is simply a capsule filled with a precise, measured quantity of peanut flour that are opened and mixed into food.
The idea is a person with a peanut allergy would be exposed to gradually increased amounts of the peanut protein, and the goal over time would be to desensitize them enough to prevent severe reactions. About three percent of the patients in the trial left the study due to systemic allergic hypersensitive reactions.
(Fox News)