UK’s first dedicated allergy centre to provide immunotherapy for severe cases

Original article here.

Co-located specialist critical care and allergy teams offer access to new treatments.

Patients with severe food allergies will get access to oral immunotherapy and other new and emerging treatments after the UK’s first purpose-built centre opened in the Harley Street Health District last month.

The new facility brings together critical care and allergy teams to provide paediatric and adult patients with access to specialist treatments and support in one specialist clinic for the first time.

It comes amid a rising prevalence of food allergies among children. According to the most recent research, more than one in 25 preschool children have a food allergy in the UK.

Opened in a converted former school building on Duchess Street by leading allergy specialists Professors George Du Toit, Adam Fox OBE, and Gideon Lack, the Allergy Centre of Excellence (ACE) is licensed to deliver oral immunotherapy (OIT), and its ‘bespoke’ allergy pharmacy will support early access to innovative therapies, including recently approved EURneffy – the first needle-free spray for anaphylaxis.

It will also offer access to advanced diagnostic testing, biologics, outpatient consultations, a dedicated day case unit as well as OIT and critical care and high dependency specialist care.

ACE patients will also have the opportunity to take part in clinical trials for new and emerging potentially life-changing treatments.

A novel approach to treating peanut allergies in very young children using a skin patch to administer treatment is the first study scheduled to get underway.

The trial is set to be overseen by Professor Paul Turner of Imperial College London, who has joined the team of leading allergy specialists to lead clinical research at the new facility.

It follows research by founder Professor Gideon Lack which suggested that closer to six to eight percent of children had a food allergy by age three.

 Professor Lack said he and his colleagues had opened the centre in response to new treatments including oral and skin immunotherapy becoming available.

“We recognised the need for a highly specialised environment, staffed by expertly trained nurses and doctors, who are equipped to manage severe allergic reactions if needed, although fortunately they are very rare,” he said.

“In addition, we are supported by an outstanding team of paediatric intensive care doctors who operate a rota system, so in the unlikely event of a reaction, we can provide the best possible care and swiftly reverse it,” added Professor Lack, whose Learning Early About Peanut Allergy (LEAP) King’s College London study led to a shift away from ‘avoidance’ guidance among health authorities around the world.

The centre is set up to treat thousands of paediatric and adult patients each year, who will be both private patients and those funded via a new partnership with the Sadie Bristow Foundation.

The new centre was welcomed by charity Allergy UK, who dubbed it as “a positive step forward in allergy care in the UK… offering practical solutions to families navigating the daily challenges of living with allergies.” 

Paul Bakker, Head of Healthcare Asset Management at The Howard de Walden Estate, landlord and steward of the Harley Street Health District, said:

“We believe this new centre will make a tangible difference for many families and reinforces the District’s reputation as a global hub for whole health and innovation.”

Professor Lack said the location was an inspiring place to work, alongside the benefits of it being a “lovely area that patients and their families genuinely enjoy visiting,” and its convenient access to nearby medical facilities, due to its “long-standing historical reputation, with many great physicians and paediatricians who have made seminal discoveries in the history of medicine.”