Top in allergy/asthma: Efficacy of dry powder nasal epinephrine; COVID-19 asthma outcomes

A crossover study revealed that dry powder epinephrine administered via nasal spray yielded drug exposures equal to or higher than those provided by autoinjectors in a canine model.

“Most intramuscular injections reach maximum epinephrine levels in 20 minutes or more,” Scott Lyman, MS, MBA, CEO and cofounder of Belhaven Biopharma, told Healio. “Our dry powder nasal device delivers maximum epinephrine levels in about 5 minutes. This is key for an emergency-use product like epinephrine.”

The dry powder formulation is a promising alternative to autoinjectors, which are too big for some patients to carry, require training for accurate administration and sometimes lead to poor outcomes due to fear of needles, according to Lyman.

It was the top story in allergy/asthma last week.

In another top story, researchers found that patients with asthma were twice as likely to be hospitalized for COVID-19, with mortality rates about five times as high as patients without asthma.

Read these and more top stories in allergy/asthma below:

Dry powder epinephrine nasal spray outcomes meet, surpass autoinjector delivery

A dry powder epinephrine delivered via a nasal spray yielded drug exposures that were equal to or higher than those achieved through autoinjector in a canine model, according to the results of a study performed by Belhaven Biopharma. Read more.

Patients with asthma experienced more COVID-19 hospitalization, mortality

Among patients hospitalized for COVID-19, those with asthma had much more severe outcomes than those who did not have asthma, according to a poster presented at the American Thoracic Society International Conference. Read more.

Food allergy in children may be associated with dysbiosis

Gut microbiomes in children with food allergy may differ from those without food allergy, with fewer differences seen in younger children, according to a study published in Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. Nutritionist Danielle Crumble Smith, RDN, weighed in with a perspective Read more.

Oral therapy for cow’s milk allergy may show better adherence than in other allergens

Participants with an allergy to cow’s milk had the lowest rate of oral immunotherapy treatment discontinuation, according to a study published in Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. Read more.

Experts construct guidelines to broaden use of peanut oral immunotherapy

New guidance was established for clinicians in the U.K. to implement the use of Palforzia in oral immunotherapy for patients with a peanut allergy, according to a study published in Clinical & Experimental Allergy. Read more.