ALLEVIATE - A novel strategy for food allergy prevention and treatment

Food allergy is an adverse effect to otherwise harmless proteins in the food, whereas oral tolerance is the default result from ingestion of food proteins. Food allergy is a major health problem of growing concern, affecting ~5-8% of young children and 2-4% of adults. No reliable strategy exists for prevention and treatment of food allergy, and strict avoidance of the offending food is presently the only viable management option. Living with food avoidance has a huge impact on the quality of life of food allergic patients, with daily fear of serious or even fatal reactions. The need for efficient methods for prevention and treatment is therefore evident and urgent.
The purpose of the project is to develop methods to prevent and treat food allergy using a novel strategy, recently invented. Our vision is to overcome limitations in current strategies for food allergy prevention and treatment; being efficient without inducing allergic reactions.
The specific goals of the project are:
1) To develop protein ingredients for a new generation of hypoallergenic (HA) infant formulas (IF) for cow’s milk allergy (CMA) prevention
2) To develop a drug candidate for use in immunotherapy (IT) for peanut allergy (PA) treatment
These products would have the capacity to enhance the quality of life for millions of patients in risk of developing CMA and of patients with an already established PA. The market potential is great for both product categories. In addition, the newly developed strategy may form the basis for prevention, treatment and diagnostic products targeting other food allergies.