Xolair for food allergies: How it works and what it costs

The FDA expanded approval for the asthma drug Xolair for multiple food allergies including peanuts and tree nuts to reduce reactions from accidental exposures.

Kevin Wang and Annie Marqueling’s son Liam was 8 months old when he broke out in hives all over his body after eating a few bits of a scrambled egg. An allergy test revealed Liam was allergic to eggs, as well as peanuts and tree nuts, and for the next year, the entire family avoided foods that could trigger a dangerous reaction. 

“We had to pay special attention to every single item that we brought to the house because it could potentially be a life-threatening allergen for him,” Wang said. “There’s multiple times where we’ve had to reach out and take a cookie before he takes a bite because we were unsure of the contents.”

Then, two years ago, Wang and Marqueling, who live in Palo Alto, California, found out about a clinical trial for a decades-old drug called omalizumab. The injectable drug was approved in 2003 under the name Xolair for allergic asthma and later expanded to include chronic hives, but now there was evidence it could also protect against severe allergic reactions to food. 

They enrolled Liam in the trial.

Liam with his parents, Annie and Kevin, on his 5th birthday.Courtesy Annie MarquelingThe results were published Sunday in the New England Journal of Medicine. In order to participate in the clinical trial, patients had to be allergic to peanuts along with two other foods. After four months, many of the participants were able to tolerate small amounts of the foods they were allergic to, meaning an accidental exposure was no longer a life-threatening event.

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/xolair-food-allergies-works-costs-rcna140223

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