Allergy Therapeutics has published new positive preclinical results of its peanut allergy vaccine candidate.
The “encouraging” results, published in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (JACI), hail from a study where a peanut allergy mouse model was used to demonstrate that the novel virus like particle (VLP) platform used in the vaccine candidate could offer an effective way to treat peanut allergies and prevent anaphylaxis.
In the study, mice were immunised with one of three vaccines containing either a mixture of allergens found in whole extract of roasted peanut or with just one single, purified peanut allergen. The researchers discovered that regardless of which vaccine was used, immunisation strongly reduced systemic and local allergic symptoms in the subjects, and protected against anaphylaxis.
In addition, the vaccine proved to be hypo-allergenic, which in peanut allergy is a vital characteristic to avoid anaphylactic reactions on dosing and to increase compliance.
Since there are currently no approved immunotherapies for the treatment of peanut allergies, “The availability of a safe and effective short-course vaccine that provides long-term protection and induces a long-lasting protective immune response remains the ultimate goal for researchers in this field”, explained Professor Martin F Bachmann, study investigator from The University of Bern.
He continued, “This study indicates a paradigm shift by addressing peanut allergy via a vaccination concept instead of classic desensitisation and provides a strong proof of concept for such a vaccine. The important next step will be to confirm the effects seen here in patient trials.”
Prevalence of peanut allergy in Western countries ranges from 1.4-3% of children, with UK figures estimating around 2% of children in the UK are affected.
