Future Therapies for IgE-Mediated Food Allergy

Abstract

Food allergy is prevalent, affecting approximately 4–8 % of children. There is no currently approved treatment for food allergy, and while strict allergen avoidance is recommended it is difficult to achieve. Therefore, accidental exposures and reactions are common. There is an urgent need for the development of therapeutic approaches that will improve the health and quality of life of children with food allergy. The majority of current clinical research focus is on specific food allergen immunotherapy through oral, sublingual, or epicutaneous routes. Pre-clinical research has focused on making improvements to the safety and efficacy of allergen immunotherapy through modifications of allergen structure and addition of immunomodulatory factors. The number of novel therapeutics for food allergy reaching the level of clinical trials remains disappointingly low, and there is a need for an expansion of pre-clinical research to provide safe, practical, and novel approaches to the treatment of food allergy.