The Angany laboratory is launching the first clinical study in humans of a vaccine to treat cat allergy. The first patients were recruited by a London hospital
Good news, if you are allergic to cats, a vaccine to avoid these inconveniences could soon see the light of day. Indeed, the Canadian laboratory Angany has just announced that it has received authorization from the health authorities to launch a human clinical trial of its vaccine candidate, ANG 101.
A first trial in humans
“This clinical trial is a first in humans” explains the laboratory in a press release. This will make it possible to evaluate the safety, allergenicity and immunogenicity of the new vaccine in adult patients allergic to cat dander.
This trial will be conducted under the leadership of Professor Stephen Durham and Dr Guy Scadding, two leading clinical allergy experts from Imperial College London.
Why is this vaccine so eagerly awaited?
Allergy to animal hair (of which cat hair allergy is the most common) comes in third position among the most common allergies, behind dust mite allergy and pollen allergy. However, there is currently no treatment for this form of allergy. The medications relieve patients’ symptoms (watery, irritated eyes, sneezing, headaches), but do not prevent them from appearing as soon as an allergic person comes into contact with cat dander.
“The only disease-modifying treatment for allergy is desensitization, a form of allergen immunotherapy, which requires years of administering cat allergens and is associated with a low success rate and risk of side effects allergic” explains the laboratory adding that its vaccine candidate mimics the shape and size of a virus with its surface covered in thousands of copies of the major cat allergen Fel d. 1.
This vaccine has the capacity to induce strong IgG antibody responses specific to the Fel d allergen. 1, as researchers were able to observe in initial animal tests. The first human trials will be carried out at the Royal Brompton Hospital in London.