The field of medicine is a constantly-shifting battlefield – one fight is no sooner won than another struggle seems to take its place. Whilst recent years have seen many major successes in the treatment of a number of conditions, new challenges have appeared. Of these, the growing prevalence of allergies, especially food allergies, is one of the most pressing. DBV-Technologies is a French firm that is looking very closely at ways of combating the rise of this latter-day menace.
Its key weapon in this fight is a non invasive delivery device. This takes the form of a patch that is applied directly to the skin. The diagram below demonstrates how this deceptively simple looking piece of technology actually works. This Viaskin® patch can be filled with an allergen in powder form and stuck to the patient’s skin. This contact with the skin slowly allows the body to build up a tolerance to the offending substance in a way that is much safer than other methods currently being used, such as subcutaneous allergen-specific immunotherapy. It’s an incredibly easy treatment to deliver and its totally pain-free administration is another major bonus.