A recent article in Science News discusses a new toothpaste that has been developed to treat peanut allergies. The treatment is known as Oral Mucosal Immunotherapy (OMIT) and is currently on trial to see if it could be effective in making immune therapy part of patient’s daily routine.
Immunotherapy for allergies has been traditionally administered through unpleasant and inconvenient injections (subcutaneous immunotherapy), or by messy and unreliable drops placed under the tongue (oral immunotherapy). Allergy injections are currently used to treat seasonal and environmental allergies as well as allergies to insect stings. They are more effective than the oral immunotherapy treatments that are currently on the market but can’t be used to treat food allergies because studies showed that there is an increased risk of severe side effects such as anaphylaxis.
Oral Mucosal Immunotherapy (OMIT) involves the use of a specially formulated toothpaste with therapeutic agents, to administer allergenic proteins to a patients daily dental hygiene routine. Allergy immunotherapy is dependent on exposing a patient’s immune system to the specific allergy trigger on a regular basis, the toothpaste is incorporated with the patient’s allergies, which are added to the base during the mixing process.
The below patent is for the specially formulated toothpaste to deliver allergenic proteins, invented by Erick Berglund and Michael Nelson with Allovate LLC. Michael Nelson is also the Co-Founder and CEO of Intrommune Therapeutics, a clinical stage biotechnology company based in New York that is developing a patient-friendly treatments for those suffering from food allergies.
Intrommune Therapeutics is working to create a safe, disease-modifying allergy treatment with long-term efficacy through OMIT. They have started an initial trial to develop their toothpaste for people suffering from peanut allergies. By using toothpaste with allergens embedded in it, they can target the immune cells in their cheeks more efficiently. Food allergies can be deadly and The World Allergy Organisation (WAO) estimate of allergy prevalence of the whole population by country ranges between 10 – 40% (Pawankar R, et al, 2013). This product may offer more protection by raising the patient’s immune threshold, which helps ease the persistent anxiety of an allergic reaction by accidental exposure. Intrommune is currently seeking participants for a phase 1 study of adults with peanut allergies. Participants will be selected to take either an escalating dose of INT301 or a placebo.
Analysing the wider oral immunotherapy technology landscape from 2015, using PatBase Analytics V3, we can examine the top 10 Assignees by Families, Applications and Grants. Allovate LLC ranks 6th overall, with 10 Families, 1 application and 20 grants. Aimmune Theraputics Inc has the largest output with 18 Families, 12 application and 86 grants. Aimmune Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company recently acquired by Nestlé, developing treatment for patients who suffer from food allergies.
The above patent by Aimmune Therapeutics is for the creation of a powder that can be used for oral immunotherapy to ease allergic reaction that a patient may have from accidental exposure to peanuts. This research led to the creation of a drug called Palforzia, which is the first ever FDA approved treatment for peanut allergies. Palforzia may be started in patients aged 4 through 17 years old. The treatment works by exposing the child to a low dose of the allergen daily and then gradually building it up until the patient can tolerate a dose of 300 milligrams of peanut protein every day. When this is reached, they must continue to take it every day indefinitely to maintain that level of protection. Peanut allergies are very common and have become a serious health concern. Treatments like Palforzia offer patients a degree of safety that can truly impact their lives for the better.
To view the clinical trial study, please visit: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04603300?cond=NCT04603300&draw=2&rank=1
For more information on Intrommune Therapeutics, please visit http://www.intrommune.com
The above patent data was gathered from PatBase, a trusted patent search tool used by many large corporations, as well as universities, law firms, and SMEs. The online platform enables international users to search in their native language across millions of patent documents at once, review machine-translated full-texts, and run an instant analysis. Vital technical information can be consulted anytime and anywhere with an internet connection.
To learn more about how PatBase can help you with your technology & patent research. Get in touch with us at [email protected] to request a commitment-free two-week free trial!
Sources :https://www.sciencenews.org/article/experimental-toothpaste-peanut-allergy-treatment,https://www.aimmune.com/, https://intrommune.com/