Phadia AB plans to provide access for specialists to peanut allergen components

Today, at the 2010 Annual Meeting of The American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI) Phadia, the world leader in in vitro allergy diagnostics, announced plans to provide access for specialists to peanut allergen components. These plans support Phadia’s goal to expand collaboration with allergy and immunology specialists in order to advance the understanding of the clinical utility of allergen component test results. In addition, Phadia is actively working with the FDA on clearance of allergen component based testing.

“…using specific IgE response to Ara h2 may be a useful tool in predicting clinical peanut reactivity in sensitized individuals.”

Allergy Or Tolerance In Children Sensitized To Peanut: Prevalence And Differentiation Using Component-Resolved Diagnostics (“The Manchester Study”), published in the January issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (JACI) highlighted Phadia’s Component-Resolved Diagnostics (“allergen components”) as a potentially useful tool in differentiating a patient with sensitization to peanut from a patient at risk of a severe allergic reaction. The study demonstrated “…using specific IgE response to Ara h2 may be a useful tool in predicting clinical peanut reactivity in sensitized individuals.” The study also highlighted the importance of allergy specialists in managing patients with sensitization to peanut. In the study, results from allergen component tests were 97 percent correlated to true peanut allergy. The study also indicated that allergen components may help with the diagnosis of true peanut allergy. Phadia is offering nearly 40 different allergen component packages to specialists at the AAAAI meeting. These packages include food components of wheat, egg, soy, hazelnut, stone fruit, and celery. Allergen component test results are available in Europe and are being widely utilized. In the United States, these test results are only available to allergy specialists through the Phadia Immunology Reference Laboratory (PiRL) as laboratory-developed test results. By utilizing allergen component test results, allergists can identify a patient’s sensitization pattern to specific protein components of allergens. For example, in the Manchester study, sensitivity to the protein Ara h 2 was demonstrated to be highly correlated to true peanut allergy.

In commenting on the announcement, David Esposito, President and General Manager of Phadia US, said, “Excitement over the potential role of allergen components in the food allergy arena is growing rapidly as a result of the Manchester study. Allergists have long desired a simple, accurate, and easy-to-use diagnostic tool to pinpoint true food allergy and differentiate it from food sensitivity. The results of the Manchester study show that the utilization of allergen component test results when managing patients with peanut allergy holds great promise in this regard.”

Mr. Esposito continued, “Providing access to allergen component test results represents a significant and important step as we collaborate with specialists through innovative diagnostic tools to improve patient care. Parents are understandably concerned when their children are diagnosed with food allergy. Phadia, in collaboration with researchers around the world, is making great progress in understanding the clinical significance of IgE to allergen components. These different sensitivity patterns can help clinicians differentiate between those children who have serious food allergy, and those who may have sensitization to allergen components that are associated with a lower risk of clinical reactivity.”