Q&A: FARE putting $3 million toward OFC alternative, groundwork research on rare disease
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Key takeaways:
- FARE is offering a $2 million grant seeking a diagnostic alternative to the oral food challenge.
- Another $1 million grant is for basic research into the rare food allergy FPIES.
Food Allergy & Research Education is hoping to transform the way food allergies are diagnosed and treated with two grant opportunities totaling $3 million, according to a press release from the nonprofit.
The organization, known as FARE, is offering a $2 million grant toward finding an alternative to the oral food challenge, which can be time-consuming and anxiety-inducing while risking an allergic reaction, according to the release, although it is currently the most accurate way of diagnosing food allergy.
Noting that other grants in food allergy research range from approximately $50,000 to $500,000, FARE said that it is the largest private funder of food allergy research. Image: Adobe Stock
Known as the Innovation Award Diagnostic Challenge, this grant is now in its second phase, which is focused on “assessing alternative diagnostic tools by gathering clinical data in comparison with the OFC,” the organization told Healio. The third phase will validate a frontrunner with an eye toward commercialization and clinical use.
Separately, a second grant of $1 million aims to advance treatments and prevention strategies for food protein-induced enterocolitis syndrome — or FPIES — which has “many unmet research needs,” according to the release.
To help understand how these grants aim to reshape the field, Healio spoke with Jennifer Bufford, MS, CROM, CCRP, CCRC, vice president of clinical operations at FARE, for more context on why they are important.
Healio: How would patients benefit from an OFC alternative? What would be the significance to physicians?
Bufford: Families and patients with food allergies want more options and more information about their food allergies. Having a diagnostic alternative would ideally allow for multiple allergens to be detected at once, rather than undergoing an hours-long and sometimes stressful OFC for each food, which may lead to an allergic reaction.
An alternative or supplemental diagnostic test may also save clinicians’ time and offer more insight into a patient’s food allergies, perhaps better guiding them toward the best treatment option or next steps.
Healio: What would be the implications for future food allergy research if an OFC alternative was found?
Bufford: Because the double-blind, placebo-controlled OFC is considered the gold standard for diagnosing food allergy today, it is used as a measurement in clinical trials to determine if, for example, a potential treatment is working for someone with a food allergy. The OFC can hinder recruiting patients for trials, as not everyone wants to complete a challenge due to the stress and anxiety of potential reactions, hours spent at the doctor’s office for the test, or having to come into the doctor’s office to repeat the OFC throughout a clinical trial.
An alternative diagnostic would simplify this process, allowing a patient to rapidly enter a trial and spend less time in the office, decreasing stress and demands on the patient and their family. A diagnostic alternative would accelerate patient recruitment, in turn accelerating the trial and, ultimately, the therapeutic toward market.
Healio: What are some of the unmet research needs of FPIES? What kinds of knowledge gaps can these funds help close?
Bufford: There is much that remains to be learned about FPIES. Research in a number of areas could advance the understanding and awareness of the disease among health care professionals, which is currently limited.
Knowledge gaps that FARE’s competition might help advance include:
- research to comprehend the pathophysiology of the disease;
- investigations to better describe the epidemiology, natural history and clinical presentation of FPIES;
- tools to better diagnosis and monitor the disease; and
- clinical trials of potential therapeutics.
Healio: How does the size of these grants compare with other food allergy research grants? How significant is $3 million in this space?
Bufford: Funding for food allergy research is sparse and limited to a few organizations. Small grants from other organizations for pilot studies are typically around $50,000 whereas larger grants from federal funding agencies such as NIH typically provide funding at a level of $500,000 annually. FARE is the largest private funder of food allergy research.
Healio: How did FARE decide to fund FPIES research?
Bufford: The FPIES [request for applications] was made possible by the generous support of a family impacted by FPIES. Although prevalence data suggest 0.5% of U.S. infants are affected by FPIES, current research is limited. FARE aims to fill a critical research gap to accelerate the pace of innovation and scientific discovery that would benefit individuals with FPIES. FARE is deeply grateful for opportunities to partner with philanthropists to drive transformative research in both IgE- and non-IgE-mediated food allergies.
Healio: What else is FARE working on?
Bufford: FARE works tirelessly for the 33 million Americans with food allergies. Our goals are ambitious but straightforward: to accelerate the pace of innovations to prevent, diagnose and treat food allergies, and to empower food-allergic individuals to confidently manage their disease.
In October, FARE will host a 1,000-person summit in Orlando, which builds off our May Courage at Congress, where food allergy advocates took to the streets of Washington, D.C., to advance issues key to our cause. While we mitigate risk today through robust education and advocacy programs, we are aggressively searching for novel therapeutics with a portfolio spanning treatments, prevention and diagnostics. Current initiatives include:
- re-launching of the Investigator Award program focused on junior and mid-career food allergy researchers;
- a large-scale prevention trial of 1,800 infants to further investigate early dietary introduction;
- an Innovation Summit and request for applications aimed at a treatment for tree nut allergies; and
- expansion of the FARE Biobank, Data Commons and Patient Registry.
For more information:
Jennifer Bufford can be reached at jbufford@foodallergy.org.
For more information on these grants, visit FARE’s website.