Stallergenes opens a new way in the development of second generation desensitisation treatments
With an R&D budget currently represents more than 21% of sales in gross terms, Stallergenes has set up a strategy aiming at developping innovative and efficent treatments. In that respect, R&D teams have been reinforced with new competences.
The development programme for sublingual desensitisation tablets
This program is a major project for Stallergenes and represents significant progress in terms of treatment for patients suffering from allergic respiratory diseases. It consists of developing and marketing a sublingual desensitisation tablet as a pharmaceutical registered drug.
The sublingual desensitisation tablet program includes five products, developped for the treatment of allergic rhinitis caused.
Ambitious projects
At the same time as the development program for sublingual desensitisation tablets, Stallergenes' Research and Development teams are carrying out an ambitious project for the design of a second-generation therapy.
The objective is to develop a sublingual desensitisation tablet for mites allergies that is even more effective, enabling more rapid action with reduced doses.
The combination of molecular biology techniques and formulation/adjuvant strategies enables better targeting of the immune system of the sublingual mucosa and improvement of the efficacy of desensitisation treatments. The "Enhanced Allergens" programme is based on this concept.
In particular, this program aims to develop a sublingual desensitisation treatment for house dust mite allergies, on the basis of recombinant proteins. This second generation treatment associates recombinant allergens presented in the form of a fusion protein with formulation/adjuvantation strategies. This combination enables better recognition of the allergen by the immune system, thereby improving the efficacy of desensitisation treatments. Understanding of specific immune responses to the allergen in the oral mucosa has considerably improved in recent years, enabling the development of new sublingual treatments. This work has confirmed that the oral immune system will preferentially induce a state of tolerance in response to the allergen.
Stallergenes has initiated another ambitious research project, as part of the "Enhanced Allergens" programme. The project consists of identifying biomarkers1 that could be used to measure the clinical efficacy of desensitisation treatments. More specifically, the identification of such biomarkers will ultimately :
- facilitate the clinical development of desensitisation treatments ;
- improve immunisation schedules, and dosage ;
- enable the identification of "responsive"patients for whom treatment will be effective.
Data relating to clinical immunotherapy studies, and natural protective responses observed in healthy individuals that are exposed to allergens will enable the identification of such biomarkers that can then be used to create even more effective desensitisation treatments.
