The Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center is involved in studies of a groundbreaking peanut allergy drug that is ready for review by the US Food and Drug Administration.

Children, which has its own immunotherapy clinic, recruited 19 patients for studies showing that it was possible to develop peanut tolerance over time.

Dean Sneed, son of Cincinnati comedian Josh Sneed, and his wife, Jenny, were among the participants in the local study. Because the study was blind, the Sneed did not know if their son was taking the drug or the placebo.

It turns out that he was taking the new drug that was administered as a powder sprinkled with food. When Dean began the study, he would have an allergic reaction due to exposure to only 1 / 30th of a peanut. During the study, her tolerance reached about one and a half peanuts.

This difference seems small, but it really changes the situation for the family. According to Jenny Sneed, sending Dean to school or activities raises some difficulties.

"We retained him from kindergarten because I did not want him to be forced to sit at the table without peanuts or worry about it at school" , she said.

This tolerance to peanuts and half means that Dean can now sit safely at the lunch table with his friends, where someone might eat a peanut butter sandwich and maybe to jam, said his mother. He can go to a birthday party without having to take his own dessert. He can eat the same birthday cake as everyone else, just so that it is not peanut-based.

Dean's recent phase 3 trial at Children's included 551 people in the country, most children between the ages of 4 and 17, with a history of life-threatening reactions after eating peanuts. Participants received the experimental drug derived from peanuts daily for several months.

The authors of the study hoped that the treatment would allow patients one or two peanuts a day without serious reaction.

Of the patients who received this drug, about two-thirds were able to tolerate greater exposure to peanut, said pediatric allergist and immunologist Amal H. Assa'ad, MD. She is Associate Director and Director of Clinical Services for the Children's Allergy and Immunology Division of Cincinnati. This represents approximately 300 patients throughout the study, including 13 from Cincinnati Children's.

Based on the study, the new drug gives hope to parents and children allergic to peanuts, she said. Assa'ad warned, however, that the drug did not help everyone and is not without drawbacks. Some participants in the study had side effects, mainly abdominal problems.

That said, the new drug is hopeful because it increases the level of peanut tolerance, she said. This does not mean that they can go out and eat peanuts, but there is a level of protection from exposure.

USA Today reported that allergist and co-author of the study, Stephen Tilles, was pleased to discover that two-thirds of the people participating in the study could tolerate two peanuts a day after nine to twelve months of treatment. Half could eat four peanuts a day. Nearly all study participants had allergic reactions during the one – year Aimmune Therapeutics – funded trial, but less than 5% were severe.

There is currently no approved treatment available for those who suffer from peanut allergies. The FDA could approve the new drug by the end of 2019, said Assaad.

Studies are in progress. Dean and Children stay on board. The next phase will consist in determining whether it is necessary to continue taking daily doses of the drug to maintain its beneficial effects or whether it is possible to maintain them with less frequent doses, she said. .

The Sneed have a younger daughter, Madison Jayne, who is 2 years old. The family has worked with Children & # 39; s to prevent it from developing peanut allergy.

From 4 months, the Sneeds fed Madison Jayne's raw pasteurized egg and peanut powder into her oatmeal. Once the diet was introduced, it had to be maintained to avoid developing allergies, said Jenny Sneed.

To protect their son from exposure to peanuts, the Sneed fed their daughter in a remote area of ​​Dean.

It's hard for people to understand allergies, said Jenny Sneed.

"It's one of those things, you never know how they're going to react, or what's going to trigger them or how they're going to go," she said.

Immunotherapy for food allergies is available in children and elsewhere in the region. According to Assa'ad, the waiting list is six months to a year at Children's.

For more information on specialized treatments for allergic and immunological disorders at Children's, visit the site https://www.cincinnatichildrens.org/service/a/allergy-immunology.

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