New Life-Changing Test for Patients Diagnosed With Peanut Allergy
HATFIELD, PA - PRNewswire
Allergenis, a predictive data analytics company specializing in the detection and management of life-threatening immune response disorders including food allergy, announced the publication of a peer-reviewed study entitled, "Accurate and Reproducible Diagnosis of Peanut Allergy Using Epitope Mapping." Conducted by leading global experts in pediatric allergy and immunology from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Stanford University and Kings College, the study found the AllerGenis peanut diagnostic blood test demonstrates accuracy significantly and statistically superior to all other established diagnostic tests. The AllerGenis peanut allergy diagnostic, which relies on analyzing a small amount of blood, resulted in 93% accuracy rate as compared to an oral food challenge without the risk of triggering an allergic reaction. The study is published in the prestigious global impact journal Allergy, the official journal of the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI).
"...this test brings us one step closer to eliminating the need to subject patients to an oral food challenge."
The findings are life-changing for food allergy patients who previously turned to a potentially risky and often anxiety-producing procedure called an oral food challenge (OFC) to rule out a food allergy. OFC requires patients to eat the suspected allergy-triggering food. Since there is a risk of a life-threatening allergic reaction and the frequent reluctance from the patient/caregiver in addition to anxiety, OFCs are often difficult to perform or even avoided altogether. A new, risk-free and non-invasive blood test is a major breakthrough for allergy patients, their families, caregivers and providers.
"An oral food challenge is one of the most stressful experiences a parent and child can face when dealing with a food allergy," said Beejal Huff, parent to 15-year-old Isabelle. "We once had to stop an oral food challenge when my daughter, Isabelle, had an allergic reaction to the peanuts she was being given during the test. Years later we had an opportunity to try AllerGenis' peanut allergy test, which confirmed it was highly unlikely Isabelle still had a peanut allergy. With this information in hand, we more comfortably proceeded with another oral food challenge. The results of the oral food challenge also confirmed what we had hoped was true – Isabelle was no longer allergic to peanuts. This news has been life-changing for all of us."
"Everyone dealing with food allergies would love to have a simple blood test that can replace the oral food challenge, which remains the 'gold standard' for diagnosing a food allergy but which is very time intensive and carries the risk of inducing anaphylaxis," said Hugh Sampson, MD, former director of the Elliot and Roslyn Jaffe Food Allergy Institute, Kurt Hirschhorn Professor of Pediatrics at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and lead author of the study. "The accuracy of this test brings us one step closer to eliminating the need to subject patients to an oral food challenge to diagnose peanut allergy."
According to Dr. David Fitzhugh, a board-certified physician specializing in internal medicine and adult and pediatric immunology/allergy, "The company's new technology gives me confidence as an allergist that I'm able to offer a lab test that is highly predictive to the results I would see with an actual oral food challenge. I can see the AllerGenis test preventing failed challenges during which patients would have likely experienced an allergic reaction. I expect there will be a lot less anxiety and distress for caregivers, parents and their children as a result."
In addition, AllerGenis has recently validated a second test, a peanut sensitivity assay, which will determine the amount of peanut protein that would likely cause an allergic reaction when eaten. This assay is designed to help parents, caregivers and patients safely navigate food labeling and day-to-day life while living confidently with peanut allergy. The company is presenting these findings at the Institute for the Advancement of Food and Nutrition Sciences Annual Meeting June 16, 2021.
About AllerGenis
AllerGenis utilizes predictive data analytics for the detection and management of life-threatening immune response disorders. Amassing the world's largest database of phenotypic patient data derived from epitope mapping, clinical history and patient-reported outcomes to gain clinical insights, AllerGenis is leading the field in developing precision, data-driven diagnostics to help healthcare providers more accurately and safely diagnose, assess and monitor patients with food allergies. The company was founded via a collaboration with Hugh Sampson MD, of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Mount Sinai Health System has licensed its proprietary epitope mapping platform to AllerGenis. For more information about AllerGenis, visit www.allergenis.com and follow the company on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.