Stallergenes inaugurates new pollen-production factory

On 20 January, Stallergenes, the leading company worldwide in sublingual immunotherapy treatments for respiratory allergies, inaugurated its new pollen-production site in Amilly (Loiret department).

The new factory is the result of close cooperation with the Cemagref scientists in Nogent-sur-Vernisson, who are specialised in forest genetic resources. From 2005 to 2007, the team worked with Stallergenes on optimising the harvest and management of the pollen from five grass species. In 2008, that research project resulted in a particularly innovative process combining specific biological and technological know-how at each step, from plant flowering through to pollen storage. The basic idea is that the pollen is drawn directly from the plants by a high-capacity, self-propelled machine derived from the forest-pollen vacuum collectors designed by Cemagref. The machine is essentially a giant vacuum cleaner in which the filter is replaced with a cyclone particle separator. The pollen is then stabilised, sorted and dried for conservation. The system to determine pollen dryness also uses a method developed by Cemagref for forest pollen and seeds. The method, based on measurement of water activity, lies at the heart of an R&D project with the Forest research department in Québec.

Thanks to its new factory, Stallergenes is now the leading producer worldwide of grass pollen used to manufacture allergy immunotherapy treatments and, in particular, the first sublingual immunotherapy pill, Oralair.

This successful partnership between public and private research has already generated a number of jobs, both direct and indirect, in the region. Over the next five years, a total of almost 20 jobs will be created in the Amilly factory alone.