Paris, France – 18th December 2009 – DBV Technologies (DBV), a biopharmaceutical company specialising in the development of non-invasive epicutaneous diagnostics and immunotherapies (EPIT) for allergies, announces the appointment of US-based food allergy and paediatric asthma specialist Professor Robert Zeiger to its Scientific Advisory Board.
In joining the Scientific Advisory Board, Professor Zeiger will provide DBV Technologies’ with access to his expertise in food allergy diagnosis and prevention as well as paediatric asthma diagnosis and treatment. Professor Zeiger’s appointment is 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 Zeiger, a MD, PhD, is a Clinical Professor in the Department of Paediatrics at the UCSD School of Medicine in La Jolla, California, United States and Adjunct Physician Investigator for Kaiser Permanente Southern California. Professor Zeiger’s current research activities focus on determining whether high-dose Vitamin D supplementation during pregnancy prevents asthma and allergies in infants, clinical trials in paediatric asthma to determine optimal asthma treatments, and unravelling the effect of childhood asthma on adult lung health. In addition, Professor Zeiger serves on the Medical Advisory Boards for the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN) and the Food Allergy Initiative (FAI), lay organizations whose role is to promote food allergy education and provide support for food allergy research.
Commenting on the appointment, DBV Technologies Chairman and CEO Jean-François Biry said, “We are delighted to have Professors Zeiger’s support behind our VIASKIN® technology and our EPIT peanut allergy desensitization programme. Professor Zeiger’s experience in food allergy, clinical trial design and performance, infant lung function, asthma diagnosis and treatment will help DBV to accelerate our clinical development”. Professor Zeiger’s enthusiasm in joining the Scientific Advisory Board is noted in his comment that “the epidemic increase in food allergy seen throughout most of the world must be challenged with new and innovative diagnostic techniques and therapies. DBV’s non-invasive epicutaneous diagnostics and immunotherapies (EPIT) provide the potential instruments to alter this epidemic”.
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.
