Asthma drug Xolair found to reduce risk of fatal allergic reactions

Research found that 67 per cent of people using the drug could consume the equivalent of 2.5 peanuts without a moderate or severe allergic reaction

A landmark study has found a 20-year-old asthma drug reduces the risk of potentially fatal food allergies.

Researchers in the US found that Xolair - a drug used for decades to treat asthma - significantly reduced dangerous reactions in people with allergies to foods such as peanuts, cashews, milk and eggs.

This means people using the drug will be able to worry less about accidentally eating small amounts, for example in restaurants, although they will still need to avoid allergens.

Jeanne Marrazzo, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), said: “People with food allergies and their caregivers need to maintain constant vigilance to avoid foods that could cause a potentially life-threatening allergic reaction. This is extremely stressful, especially for parents of young children.

“Although food avoidance remains critical, the findings reported today show that a medicine can help reduce the risk of allergic reactions to common foods and may provide protection from accidental exposure emergencies.”

People using the drug will be able to worry less about accidentally eating small amounts (Getty Images)

In a late-stage of a clinical trial using Xolair, children as young as one could consume allergens without sustaining a reaction.

The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, suggested nearly 67 per cent of people using the drug could consume the equivalent of 2.5 peanuts without a moderate or severe allergic reaction.

This was in contrast with less than seven per cent who received a placebo drug.

The trial, led by Dr Robert Wood of Johns Hopkins Children’s Center in Baltimore, included 177 children aged from one to 18 as well as three adults, all of whom had severe food allergies to peanuts and at least two other foods.

Two-thirds of the participants were given doses of the drug every two to four weeks for 16 to 20 weeks, after which they were given a dose of peanut protein.

Severe peanut allergies affect one in 50 children in the UK and up to one in 12 children are estimated to have some sort of food allergy.

Xolair is a man-made antibody directed at immunoglobulin E (IgE), which is produced by the body’s immune system and drives allergic reactions.

The drug binds to IgE, and acts “like a sponge that soaks it all up”, according to the paper’s senior author Dr Sharon Chinthrajah.