ALK is committed to improving the quality of life for allergy sufferers by developing products that target the allergy itself, rather than just relieving its symptoms. Allergy vaccination is a well documented therapy, recognized by the World Health Organization as the only treatment that targets the cause of allergy and alters the natural course of the disease.
The therapeutic principle underlying allergy vaccination is to administer controlled doses of protein substances (allergens) to which the patient is allergic in order to rebuild the immune system and induce tolerance. In this way, the allergic reaction can be reduced and potentially eliminated altogether.
Allergy vaccination is traditionally administered as subcutaneous injections or sublingual droplets. But at ALK, our aim is to extend the use of allergy vaccination by introducing convenient tablet-based vaccines – with the potential to offer more patients the option of a causal treatment for their allergy.
Following this strategy, we launched the world’s first tablet-based vaccine for grass pollen allergy, GRAZAX®, in Europe in 2006.