Categories: News

FDA approves the first peanut allergy drug

The Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved the first-ever drug to treat children for peanut allergies, The Washington Post reports. The drug, Palforzia, is made of peanut protein, and will be fed to kids ages 4 to 17 in gradually increasing doses. In tests, two-thirds of patients were able to safely consume two peanuts after a year of treatment.

Related Post

Still, there are caveats: The drug cannot be considered a cure, is not likely to provide a solution for everyone, and also costs $890 per month. And some allergists say that the drug’s manufacturer, Aimmune Therapeutics, is spinning a silk purse out of a sow’s ear. Doctors already offer the same therapy by feeding patients small amounts of peanut flour, which retails for $6 a pound. 

Source: The Washington Post.

The Counter
Share
Published by
The Counter

Recent Posts

Grist acquires The Counter and launches food and agriculture vertical

Grist, an award-winning, nonprofit media organization dedicated to highlighting climate solutions and uncovering environmental injustices,…

6 months ago

Is California giving its methane digesters too much credit?

Every year, California dairy farms emit hundreds of thousands of tons of the potent greenhouse…

2 years ago

Your car is killing coho salmon

Highway 7 runs north-south through western Washington, carving its way through a landscape sparsely dotted…

2 years ago

The pandemic has transformed America’s dining landscape into an oligopoly dominated by chains 

One of the greatest pleasures I had as a child growing up in the Chicago…

2 years ago

California is moving toward food assistance for all populations—including undocumented immigrants

Undocumented immigrants experience food insecurity at much higher rates than other populations, yet they are…

2 years ago

Babka, borscht … and pumpkin spice? Two writers talk about Jewish identity through contemporary cookbooks.

Writer Charlotte Druckman and editor Rebecca Flint Marx are both Jewish journalists living in New…

3 years ago