You may not have heard of epicutaneous immunotherapy before, but this technique is likely to become much better known soon through the research work performed by French firm DBV Technologies (http://www.dbv-technologies.com).
The 20th and 21st centuries have seen allergies take centre stage as a health issue. Well-known allergies range from everyday products like egg to the more exotic crabmeat.
DBV Technologies is now leading the way in combatting certain allergies through the Viaskin Patch (http://www.dbv-technologies.com/en/viaskin-technology/viaskin-patch).
The Viaskin patch is a simple adhesive patch worn on the skin. The key components of the patch are made up of its adhesive crown next to the skin and a titanium backing.
The approach underlying the Viaskin patch isn’t particularly complicated. Using an electrospray, miniscule quantities of an allergen are sprayed upon the patch backing.The patch creates a ‘condensation chamber’ with the skin, solubilizing the allergen, enabling it to enter the body’s most tolerogenic antigen presenting cells, the Langerhans cells, beginning the process of ‘desensitizing’ the body to said antigens.
Amongst the different patches being tested is a milk allergy treatment, about which you can find out more at http://www.dbv-technologies.com/en/viaskin-products/Viaskin-milk.