Can Daily Skin Patches Help People with Peanut Allergies?

Peanut allergy is the most common cause of severe food-induced anaphylaxis in the U.S. Currently approved treatment consists of avoidance and self-injectable epinephrine, but studies of oral, sublingual, and epicutaneous peanut immunotherapy are promising.

In an industry-sponsored phase IIb trial, 221 peanut-allergic patients (age range, 6−55) were randomized to one of three doses of an epicutaneous peanut-protein patch or placebo applied daily. At 12 months, 50% of patients who received the highest-dose patch (250 µg) were treatment responders (defined as a ≥10-fold increase in tolerated oral peanut challenge dose or ability to tolerate ≥1000 mg of peanuts [roughly 4−5 peanuts]), compared with 25% of placebo recipients. When results were an…