Don’t Fear the Peanuts
Parents who have had school-aged children over the past 15 years have almost certainly noticed the rise of allergies. “Peanut-free” classrooms have become common as awareness of potentially life-threatening allergic reactions has grown. Between one in fifty and one in thirty children are estimated to have a life-threatening allergy -- whether to peanuts, tree-nuts, milk, eggs, or some other food.
The incidence of such sensitivity seems to rise as a country becomes more developed, and no one knows why. One theory that has gained traction in the past several years is the “hygiene hypothesis,” which holds that the human immune system malfunctions when it develops in an environment that’s too clean. (Call this an unfortunate and unintended consequence of always washing your hands and not playing in the dirt enough.) That malfunctioning immune system mis-identifies molecules in peanuts or shellfish as harmful alien invaders, and dispatches immune cells to attack -- which can cause tissues to swell, and, in the case of anaphylactic shock, airways to close.
Whatever the cause, there have been few options for prevention -- just exposure restrictions and anxiety. Now a French company, DBV Technologies (Paris: DBV) has a promising treatment. They’ve developed a patch called “Viaskin” which children can wear and which introduces small amounts of an allergen transdermally -- and critically, this method avoids severe reactions that can occur with prophylactic injections of allergens into the bloodstream. Initial trials have been hopeful, with half those treated able to tolerate 10 times the level of allergen exposure they could handle before the trial started. DBV’s product for peanut allergies recently completed Phase 2 development, the last stage before pivotal clinical trials. A patch for milk allergies is still in Phase 1.
We note this as an example of innovative medical technologies in an unexpected arena. Medical advancement doesn’t just occur in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology space.
Investment implications: Biotechs have been stellar performers during the past two years, and although biotech investing may become more difficult due to pricing pressures, there will still be strong performers to find. However, there may also be advancements outside the traditional world of small- and large-molecule research and development. We try to stay aware not just of pharma and biotech, but of other medical subsectors as well.
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