Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
New Drug May Offer Hope To Parents As Life-Threatening Peanut Allergies Become More And More Common
The Wall Street Journal: Experimental Drug Shows Promise Protecting Against Peanut Allergies
An experimental drug derived from peanuts protected some children and adolescents with life-threatening peanut allergies, according to a study, allowing the subjects to eat small amounts of peanuts without suffering a serious reaction. The drug, from a small California company, Aimmune Therapeutics, didn’t work for everyone, has some side effects and hasn’t been approved by regulators for sale. Yet the findings from the late-stage trial promise a potential new solution for peanut allergies, a growing concern. (Loftus, 11/18)
Stat: Aimmune Peanut Allergy Treatment Is Effective, But Often Hard To Tolerate
Aimmune is trying to standardize a peanut allergy protection method already used on an ad hoc basis. AR101 is a capsule filled with a precise, measured quantity of peanut flour. The capsules are opened and mixed into food. The idea is simple: Expose people to small, escalating doses of ingestible peanut protein over time with the goal of desensitizing them enough to prevent severe reactions. (Feuerstein, 11/18)
