US regulators have issued a green light for Stallergenes’ Oralair, making it the first immunotherapy tablet available for the treatment of grass pollen-induced allergic rhinitis with or without conjunctivitis.
The move gives allergy specialists and their patients another key, and potentially more convenient, option for combating the condition; until now, allergen immunotherapy has been administered via a series of subcutaneous injections in a specialist setting.
Grass allergy is the most common seasonal allergy in the US, and most sufferers are allergic to more than one type of grass. Oralair contains a mix of five grass pollens – Sweet Vernal, Orchard, Perennial Rye, Timothy, and Kentucky Blue Grass – which combined represent those to which most people are exposed.
The US Food and Drug Administration has approved use of the pill in patients aged 10 to 65 years, whose condition has been confirmed by positive skin test or in vitro testing for pollen-specific IgE antibodies for any of the five grass species contained in this product.
