The first patients were recruited at the Royal Brompton Hospital in London to begin clinical trials.
ADVERTISEMENTThe first clinical trial of a new vaccine candidate to treat cat allergies has been given the all-clear, according to a French-Canadian pharmaceutical company.
This is the first human test to evaluate the safety and ability of the new vaccine to provoke an immune response in adults who are allergic to cat dander, the company Angany said.
There is no current cure for cat allergies, which is a life-long condition but there are over-the-counter medicines that can help to relieve symptoms.
The typical method for treatment is desensitisation, which includes years of small but increasing exposure to cat allergens and has the risk of allergic side effects.
"The ultimate goal in cat allergy is to find a safe, effective and easy-to-administer vaccine that will not require the long treatment and often suboptimal response currently featured by classical desensitisation method," said Dr Guy Scadding, a clinical research fellow at the National Heart and Lung Institute of Imperial College London, who will help to conduct the trial.
The company said the UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) had given the green light to start the first human trial.
The first patients were recruited at the Royal Brompton Hospital in London to begin clinical trials.
Previously tested on animals, this treatment triggered "a very strong production of antibodies capable of blocking the allergic reaction," Angany co-founder Loïc Faye told AFP.
The vaccine candidate ANG-101 has an active immunotherapeutic ingredient that is a bioparticle that "mimics a virus in shape and size with its surface covered with thousands of copies of cat major allergen Fel d 1," the company said in a statement.
