US approves drug to combat food allergies

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced that the agency has approved Xolar (omalizumab), a drug that should help people with severe food allergies, particularly to foods such as milk, peanuts and seafood.

It is noted that the drug is essentially a monoclonal antibody, meaning that it contains lab-grown proteins that attach to a specific target within the human body. Xolar’s target is immunoglobulin E (IgE), a human-produced antibody that is responsible for allergic reactions.