Allergists Debate Anticipated FDA Approval Of A Peanut Allergy Drug

A panel of experts earlier this month recommended that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approve a new drug for children and teens with peanut allergies.

The drug, called Palforzia, was developed by California startup Aimmune Therapeutics to be taken daily in a regimen known as oral immunotherapy. The therapy involves ingesting small doses of peanut protein, gradually increased over months, to blunt the immune system's overreaction to peanuts. When it's effective, patients can become biteproof — that is, able to withstand small amounts of peanut that would have previously caused possibly dangerous allergic reactions.

With the FDA's go-ahead, expected by January, Palforzia would become the nation's first approved treatment for food allergies, which now afflict 1 in 13 children.

Many families and physicians are celebrating. But some are also wondering how "new" Aimmune's treatment really is. Some 200 of 5,000 board-certified U.S.oral immunotherapy to treat allergies to peanuts and other foods, using peanut flour or other products from retail vendors.