About 1 million children have a peanut allergy and only one in five will outgrow it. But the Food and Drug Administration has recently approved a new medication to treat the allergy, stopping the reactions that could happen with accidental exposure to any form of peanut.
It’s called Palforzia, and it’s targeted to kids ages 4 through 17 with confirmed peanut allergies.
The treatment, which is made from peanuts will not allow the patients to actually eat peanuts. They will still have to avoid consuming them in their diet, the FDA said, but it can help decrease the risk when they’re accidentally exposed to the legumes.
The FDA says Palforzia is given in three stages: Initial dose escalation, up-dosing and maintenance. The initial dose is given one day. Up-dosing happens over several months with 11 increasing doses. Both phases are given under supervision in case the patient has a reaction like anaphylaxis. Eventually, after all the up-dosing levels are done, the patient will start the maintenance dose.
Palforzia is only a treatment but not a cure, The Washington Post reported.
The company that developed Palforzia has other food-related treatments planned, the Post reported.
The treatment is listed to cost $890 a month but maybe as low as $20 if a patient qualifies for the company’s assistance program, according to the newspaper.