OIT and Xolair® (Omalizumab) in Cow's Milk Allergy

Summary

Food allergy affects up to 4% of the U.S. population and is most common in young children. Milk allergy is the most common cause of food allergy in infants and young children, and usually develops in the first year of life. There is no treatment for food allergy and the current standard of care for milk-allergic individuals is the avoidance of milk-containing products. Research is underway to identify potential therapeutic strategies to reduce or eliminate the adverse effects experienced by milk-allergic individuals when they consume milk-containing products. Several studies have suggested that milk-allergic children who receive milk protein oral immunotherapy (OIT) may become desensitized to milk, resulting in short term protection against accidental ingestion of milk products. However, these children did not develop "tolerance," which is long term protection even after milk immunotherapy is stopped. A potential strategy to induce tolerance to milk uses milk in combination with Xolair® (omalizumab). Xolair consists of anti-IgE molecules that attach to IgE, the major antibody involved in allergic reactions. The goal of this clinical trial is to see whether Xolair® in combination with milk protein OIT is safer and more effective than OIT alone in inducing tolerance to milk and milk products. Participants will be administered a double blind, placebo controlled milk challenge at various time points in the study. If desensitization is achieved participants will be tested for tolerance at a certain time point after stopping treatment.

Timeline

Start

2010-08

Primary completion

2015-01

Completion

2015-10

Publications

• Results Wood RA, Kim JS, Lindblad R, Nadeau K, Henning AK, Dawson P, Plaut M, Sampson HA. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of omalizumab combined with oral immunotherapy for the treatment of cow's milk allergy. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2016 Apr;137(4):1103-1110.e11. doi: 10.1016/j.jaci.2015.10.005. Epub 2015 Nov 12.
• Noone S, Ross J, Sampson HA, Wang J. Epinephrine use in positive oral food challenges performed as a screening test for food allergy therapy trials. J Allergy Clin Immunol Pract. 2015 May-Jun;3(3):424-8. doi: 10.1016/j.jaip.2014.10.008. Epub 2015 Jan 13.

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Indications