Paris, France – 19 October 2009 – DBV Technologies (DBV), a biopharmaceutical company specialising in the development of non-invasive epicutaneous diagnostics and immunotherapies for allergies, announces the expansion of its Scientific Advisory Board with the appointments of leading paediatric allergy and paediatric food allergy specialists Professor Gideon Lack and Associate Professor Philippe Eigenmann.
In joining DBV Technologies’ Scientific Advisory Board, Professors Lack and Eigenmann provide the Company with access to their expertise in paediatric food allergy diagnosis and treatment. These SAB appointments are of strategic importance to DBV Technologies, as the Company works towards the initiation of its first US Phase I clinical trial for peanut allergy.
Professor Lack is Head of the Children’s Allergy service at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and a Professor of Paediatric Allergy at King’s College, London, United Kingdom. Professor Lack’s current research is focused on developing novel immunomodulatory treatments for food allergies and new strategies to prevent the development of allergies and asthma in children.
Professor Eigenmann is an Associate Professor at the Department of Infants and Adolescents at the Hospital cantonal Universitaire Geneve (HUG), Geneva, Switzerland,specialising in paediatric allergy diagnosis and treatment. His current research is focused on the pathogenesis of food allergy with regard to sensitization procedures in the bowel, as well as investigating therapeutic food allergy treatment strategies using mouse models.
Commenting on the appointment, DBV Technologies Chairman and CEO Jean François Biry said, “We are delighted to have Professors Lack and Eigenmann’s support behind VIASKIN® and our EPIT peanut allergy desensitization programme. Their outstanding experience in food allergy will help DBV to accelerate our clinical development and significantly increase our scientific capabilities”.
About DBV Technologies - www.dbv-technologies.com
DBV Technologies (DBV) is a speciality pharma company specialising in the development of non-invasive epicutaneous diagnostics and immunotherapies for allergy diagnosis and treatment. The Company is lead by CEO Jean-François Biry and was born out of the experience of Professor Christophe Dupont, a paediatric GI, from Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris and Université Paris Descartes, Doctor Pierre-Henri Benhamou, a paediatrician specialising in gastro-enterology, allergosis and nutrition, and Bertrand Dupont, a qualified engineer from the Arts et Métiers Institute. DBV Technologies’ lead product, Diallertest® Milk, is on sale in France and other countries for the diagnosis of cow’s milk protein allergy.
DBV closed a €6million (EUR) Series B investment in January 2009 with new investor ALK-Abello, a leading worldwide immunotherapy company, and returning investor Sofinnova Partners.
DBV Technologies was founded in 2002 and is based in the Pépinière Paris Santé Cochin, in Paris’ 14th arrondissement.
About VIASKIN®
DBV Technologies’ globally patented VIASKIN® technology is a unique delivery system which retains active compounds on a carrier using electrostatic forces only. The delivery platform allows active compounds to be presented to the epidermis of the skin without breaking the blood-skin barrier. In not breaking the blood-skin barrier, DBV Technologies’ allergen diagnosis and specific immunotherapy treatments avoid inducing systemic shock – one of the most serious concerns associated with current desensitisation therapies.
DBV’s VIASKIN® technology is in development for the treatment of allergies through Epicutaneous Specific Immunotherapy (EPIT) and for the administration of vaccines. The company is currently seeking partnerships in these areas DBV’s lead product, Diallertest® Milk, utilises VIASKIN® technology and is on sale in France and other countries for the diagnosis of cow’s milk protein allergy.
To view a video of VIASKIN presenting active compounds to the skin without breaking the blood-skin barrier, please click on the link http://www.dbv-technologies.com/viaskin-technology/about.htm
About Diallertest® Milk
DBV Technologies’ lead product, Diallertest® Milk, is on sale in France and other countries for the diagnosis of cow’s milk protein allergy. In September 2009, DBV Technologies licensed its Diallertest® Milk to the independent French based pharmaceutical company BIOPROJECT for distribution to the French market. Diallertest® Milk represents a revolution for paediatrics and was awarded an International prize for Technological Innovation by the Altran foundation in 2003.
Facts about peanut allergy
Peanut allergy is one of the most severe food allergies with more than 6 million people suffering from peanut allergies in the US alone. In case of accidental ingestion, this condition can be life threatening, inducing systemic shock in severely IgE mediated patients.
