Manchester researchers recruit first patient into peanut allergy study

Congratulations to Dr Vibha Sharma, and team at the NIHR Clinical Research Facility at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital (RMCH), who has recruited the first patient into an international trial.

RMCH is involved with the children’s arm of the phase 3 study, which aims to confirm the safety and effectiveness of the therapy vs. placebo in children and adults (aged 4–55 years) with peanut allergy.  This is a follow-on study which will monitor patients over an extended period to build on data collected through an earlier study, which indicated that the therapy was safe, generally well tolerated and superior to placebo in reducing allergic reaction to peanuts. Peanut allergy can be associated with severe reactions, including life-threatening anaphylaxis.  Currently patients manage the condition through dietary avoidance of peanuts and education around what to do in the instance of an allergic reaction. Current management techniques of the condition (dietary avoidance of peanuts and education) are far from ideal as accidental ingestion remains common with up to 50% of food-allergic patients having at least one allergic reaction over a two-year period. This new study involves oral administration of increasing amounts of graded peanut protein over a six-month period, or placebo, under close supervision of medical staff and with the emergency care back up available via the CRF.  Once the required level of peanut protein in the blood has been reached then the participants undergo an oral food challenge, where they gradually receive an increasing but larger amount of peanut protein than delivered through the therapy to determine whether it is effective.