Anti-pollen pill for hay fever victims
12th December 2006
Another team at the MRC-Asthma UK centre is looking to see if a pill that protects against grass pollen allergies can have the same long term benefits as injected vaccines.
It’s thought a million British hay fever sufferers could benefit from the anti-pollen vaccine pill due to be offered to patients in the New Year. The tablet, called Grazax, contains a tiny quantity of grass pollen extract. From January it will be available on prescription only to UK patients who do not respond to conventional treatments.
Studies have shown the pill, which dissolves under the tongue, can effectively prime the immune system to help prevent hay fever.
Traditional anti-histamine treatments and steroidal nasal sprays have to be repeated on a regular basis and do not work for everyone.
The effects of a steroidal nasal spray wear off in about a week. In contrast, a single course of the pill vaccine, taken daily for two months before the summer, can keep hay fever at bay for a whole season. Research leader Professor Stephen Durham, from the MRC Asthma UK centre and Imperial College London said:
"One in four people suffers from hay fever. It's not just a runny nose, and it's not something to be sneezed at. It can have a severe effect on quality of life; it interferes with sleep, and interferes with work, and children with hay fever can drop a grade at school. I believe about 10% of the hay fever population, potentially a million patients in the UK, could benefit from this treatment."
Injectible hay fever vaccines have been available for 100 years and have recently become far more safe and effective. But Prof Durham said patients would much prefer a tablet to a jab. They would also be able to take the pill at home, whereas an injection had to be administered at a specialist centre.
Professor Durham is now taking part in a multi-centre European trial to see if Grazax has the same kind of long-term benefit as injected vaccines. The jabs have been shown to alleviate symptoms for as long as three years.
The results of the trial should be known in around five years. Both the injected and tablet vaccines work in the same way, by inducing a protective immune response to grass pollen.
In hay fever sufferers the immune system over-reacts to pollen to produce the typical symptoms of sore eyes, a runny nose, and sneezing. Almost a third of people with hay fever also develop bronchial problems.
The active ingredient in the vaccine pill is derived from Timothy grass (Phleum pratense), a common grass found throughout most of Europe apart from the Mediterranean region. Though the vaccine is effective against a wide range of grass pollens.
The Grazax pill, made by the drug company Alk-Abello, has been approved for use in 27 European countries, including the UK. It has already been introduced in Sweden.
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