Biologics/Immunotherapy News

ATLANTA — Changing definitions and possible treatments for asthma and COPD, the use of component testing for food allergy, the increasing growth of sublingual immunotherapy and an update on skin-related allergies were among highlights at the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology Annual Scientific Meeting.

Stallergenes has exercised its option to exclusively develop a new class of oral allergy treatments with ActoGeniX, according to a press release.

Eosinophilic esophagitis occurred in nearly 3% of patients with immunoglobulin E-mediated food allergy who had undergone oral immunotherapy in a recent study.

Researchers at Texas Children’s Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine have begun a peanut immunotherapy trial to investigate the ability of peanut allergic children to take peanut flour.

Major allergen components were identified in Johnson grass pollen in recent study results.

Teenagers with persistent asthma, high milk- or egg-specific IgE levels and noncompliant behavior were a high-risk group for oral immunotherapy and experienced life-threatening reactions to the treatment, according to recent study results.

Repeated measurements of standard clinical chemistry and hematology parameters during allergen immunotherapy might not be necessary, according to recent study results.

More than 70% of immunotherapy patients were willing to receive three or more injections per visit, according to recent survey results.

Recent research regarding developments in peanut allergy and oral immunotherapies has been presented in Healio Allergy/Immunology. Here are some highlights:

Basophil activation testing showed that decrease in the log-transformed area under the curve measurements correlated with desensitization in peanut oral immunotherapy, according to research presented at the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology annual congress in Copenhagen, Denmark.