World-first human trials of a new treatment for peanut allergy likened to a "heat-seeking missile" will soon start, with hopes it could eventually stop reactions to shellfish.
About three in every 100 Australian children have a peanut allergy and current treatments focus on reducing symptoms rather than stopping it at the source.
However, the new medication targets antibodies in the body's own immune system that cause reactions and aims to alter them and stop the response from happening.
From September, phase one trials will be conducted in Australia by US-based biotechnology company IgGenix with Fiona Stanley Hospital, St Vincent’s Hospital, The Royal Melbourne Hospital and Monash Health.
It's the first time such a treatment has been used to treat a food allergy, Fiona Stanley consultant immunologist Michael O'Sullivan told AAP.
He said scientists and doctors have been talking about a treatment like this for two decades and it's exciting Australian hospitals were involved from such an early stage.
"This is a really significant step forward in providing potential future treatment, which will actually take away that risk of having allergic reactions and anaphylaxis from accidentally eating peanuts," Dr O'Sullivan said.
It would likely be a good option for teenagers and adults who still have a peanut allergy, he said, with one dose of the medication potentially offering protection for several weeks or months.
The new medication acts like a "heat-seeking missile", IgGenix chief executive Jessica Grossman said.
"(Allergic) people make these bad fighter antibodies against peanut," she said.
"We start with those antibodies but we transform them, we re-engineer them into neutral, blocking antibodies."
About 24 healthy people aged 15 to 55 in Melbourne, Sydney and Perth are needed for phase-one trials.
Participants will be injected with the medication and closely monitored for several months as doctors assess safety, dosage, any side effects and measure levels of protection in the blood.
"At 30 days, we'll give them a very small control dose of peanut to see if the drug is safe in the face of a peanut challenge and also if there's any signal of effectiveness," Dr Grossman said.
If all goes well she hopes all trials would wrap up within five years, with IgGenix also developing a similar treatment for shellfish allergies.
Prominent immunologists met in Melbourne this week to finalise trial details and Dr O'Sullivan said testing the medication here could ensure Australians are among the first in the world to access it if approved.
"We're really keen to make sure that we can keep working together across all of the different hospitals in Australia to bring these sorts of treatments to Australian patients from very early in the process, rather than waiting years down the track to finally get access to them," he said.
Dr O'Sullivan said it may also offer hope for patients with many other types of allergies.
"If it turns out to be effective for peanuts, the science behind this and the discovery of these specific antibodies from patients with peanut allergy can also be replicated for people who have got allergies to other nuts or to shellfish, milk or egg," he said.
