There is increasing hope that a breakthrough in the treatment of allergies may be imminent in the seemingly unlikely shape of an adhesive patch, thanks to DBV-Technologies. This French company has been researching new ways of treating and diagnosing some of our most common allergies.

Food allergy research has become an increasingly important field with the huge increase in the numbers of people affected by this issue, especially in Europe and North America. It is estimated that up to 500 million people are prone to allergic reactions to foods like fish, crab, peanuts and cow’s milk.

The Viaskin patch developed by DBV-Technologies is different to other proposed treatment methods in its EPIT approach (Epicutaneous Immunotherapy method). This has several key advantages. It offers an alternative to treatments administered by injection, which children may find painful and distressing. It also provides a safer way of boosting the body’s allergen tolerance levels compared to other methods, meaning that it may be used with patients suffering from quite severe allergic reactions. Furthermore, it can be used against a whole range of allergies.

This diagram offers a good illustration of how the Viaskin® patch works in practice:

Source : http://www.dbv-technologies.com