A Stanford Medicine study finds drug limits allergic reactions to food in kids

Food allergies occur when the body's immune system mistakenly identifies certain proteins in food as harmful invaders. Upon encountering these proteins, the immune system launches an attack, leading to various symptoms such as hives, difficulty breathing, or digestive issues. A drug can make life safer for children with food allergies by preventing dangerous allergic responses to small quantities of allergy-triggering foods

"I'm excited that we have a promising new treatment for multifood allergic patients. This new approach showed really great responses for many of the foods that trigger their allergies," said the study's senior author, Sharon Chinthrajah, MD, associate professor of medicine and of pediatrics, and the acting director of the Sean N. Parker Center for Allergy and Asthma Research at Stanford Medicine.

Originally approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat conditions like allergic asthma and chronic hives, Omalizumab works by binding to and neutralizing the antibodies responsible for various allergic reactions. It's an injected antibody that targets and deactivates all forms of immunoglobin E (IgE), the molecule central to allergic responses in the bloodstream and on immune cells throughout the body. Current evidence suggests that Omalizumab may offer relief from multiple food allergies simultaneously.

For the study, 177 children were involved with three or more food allergies, spanning different age groups. Participants underwent omalizumab injections or received a placebo over 16 weeks, with dosages tailored to weight and IgE levels. After testing, 79 patients (66.9%) on omalizumab tolerated at least 600 mg of peanut protein, compared to only four patients (6.8%) on the placebo. Similar improvements were observed with other allergenic foods. Approximately 80% of omalizumab-treated patients could consume small amounts of one allergenic food without a reaction, with percentages decreasing for multiple allergens.

The findings indicated that Omalizumab was generally safe, with no significant side effects observed except for occasional minor reactions at the injection site. This research represents the first evaluation of its safety in children as young as 1 year old.

“Food allergies have significant social and psychological impacts, including the threat of allergic reactions upon accidental exposures, some of which can be life-threatening,” Chinthrajah said. “There is a real need for treatment that goes beyond vigilance and offers choices for our food allergic patients,”

“The drug could be especially helpful for young children with severe food allergies because they tend to put things in their mouths and may not understand the dangers their allergies pose” she concluded.

Reference: Terri Brown-Whitehorn, Amanda K. Rudman Spergel, Maria Veri, Sanaz Daneshfar Hamrah, Erica Brittain, Julian Poyser, Lisa M. Wheatley, R. Sharon Chinthrajah. Omalizumab for the Treatment of Multiple Food Allergies. New England Journal of Medicine, 2024; DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa2312382