PARIS--()--DBV Technologies (DBV), a biotechnology company specializing in innovative products for the diagnosis and the treatment of food allergies, announced today that its lead product VIASKIN® PEANUT for Peanut Specific EPicutaneous ImmunoTherapy (EPIT) has been selected to be evaluated in a Phase II study led by the U.S. Consortium of Food Allergy Research (CoFAR).
This Phase II study in peanut allergy desensitization will be funded by a renewed five year grant from the U.S National Institutes of Health (NIH) and is expected to begin in mid 2011. The research program will be conducted at CoFAR clinical sites that have worldwide recognized expertise in food allergy and will last for a minimum of three years.
The NIH officially announced on the 14 July 2010 that a $29.9 Million grant was awarded to the CoFAR, in particular to continue to foster new approaches to prevent and treat food allergies. As part of the proposed research programs, DBV Technologies’ EPIT approach, specifically its Peanut Specific EPIT program using VIASKIN PEANUT, has been selected as an innovative desensitization treatment with sufficient scientific rationale to allow further clinical investigation.
DBV Technologies is currently conducting Phase Ib clinical trials with VIASKIN PEANUT in five U.S. clinical centers, of which three are sites already part of CoFAR.
Commenting on the announcement, DBV Technologies’ CEO and Co-Founder, Pierre-Henri Benhamou, MD said: “To be selected in this food allergy research initiative funded by the NIH and led by the CoFAR, a group of outstanding leading food allergy specialists, is a significant endorsement of our EPIT desensitization approach. Their support in undertaking a long term clinical investigation with VIASKIN PEANUT is of immense value in developing a safe, painless and effective form of therapy for food allergy desensitization.”
More information about DBV Technologies’ Peanut Specific EPicutaneous ImmunoTherapy (EPIT) program can be found at: http://www.dbv-technologies.com/viaskin-peanut.asp
About DBV Technologies - www.dbv-technologies.com
DBV Technologies is a private French company focused on the development of innovative products for the diagnosis and treatment of food allergies. The Company was born out of the experience of Professor Christophe Dupont, a paediatric gastroenterologist, from Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris and Université Paris Descartes, Doctor Pierre-Henri Benhamou (CEO), a paediatrician specialising in gastro-enterology, allergy and nutrition, and Bertrand Dupont, a qualified engineer from the Arts et Métiers Institute. DBV Technologies was founded in 2002 and is based in the Pépinière Paris Santé Cochin, in Paris’ 14th arrondissement.
About DBV Technologies’ Peanut Specific EPIT program
Through its Peanut Specific EPIT program, DBV Technologies aims to safely desensitize patients suffering from peanut allergy, i.e. increase the amount of peanuts that patients can consume symptom-free. Early July 2010, DBV Technologies announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted the Investigational New Drug (IND) application of its lead food allergy desensitization candidate, VIASKIN PEANUT, for the desensitization to peanut allergy.
More information about DBV Technologies’ Peanut Allergy EPIT trials is available at: http://www.dbv-technologies.com/viaskin-peanut.asp
About VIASKIN®
Information about DBV Technologies’ VIASKIN technology can be found at:
http://www.dbv-technologies.com/viaskin.asp
About CoFAR
The Consortium of Food Allergy Research (CoFAR) was established in July 2005 by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) to conduct multi-center clinical trials, observational studies, mechanistic studies and basic research towards further understanding of the best possible treatment approaches for food allergies. More information about CoFAR can be found at:
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