Did you see the recent issue of Allergic Living? It was like half the magazine was an advertisement for Aim mune. There was the opening by the editor praising it, the article on Aim mune itself that, and then an article from FARE pushing for it. I didn't see a mention of the link between FARE an Aim mune. I'm not actually down on Aim mune but something about all that didn't feel quite right to me.
I think Aim mune could help more people get OIT and I think that done properly, OIT will work on most, but not all, people with FAs. I think it will make more doctors feel comfortable doing it. Not all will want to do it or be ready for all that it involves, even if they use a pre-packaged pill. I do not think using this pill is better than the way it is currently done in OIT clinics, though.
This is key, I think, when considering the place Aimmune seems to occupy in moving this type treatment forward. I'd been considering OIT for a few years but without any allergists in my state/city offering the treatment I hesitated. I kept picturing myself on the highway in the middle of nowhere with my daughter reacting and I'd shelve the idea for another month or so.
Which is exactly WHY I jumped at the chance to have my daughter enroll in the Aimmune AR101 phase 3 trial. It is our allergist who is participating and it is being conducted in clinic at our Children's hospital = No highway, no mommy nightmares, but I still have nagging concerns. Will she be truly desensitized? Is she in the computer assigned placebo group? What of the proteins that have been removed and are not in this food/drug? After all this I want her to be at 3 peanuts or more. Preferably 10. I really like the sounds of the New England center & the Stanford model but that involves travel and we are back to my mommy nightmare.
I'm rooting for Aimmune both personally and for the food allergic community. Treatment MUST move forward and become more widely available. Strict avoidance/abstinence isn't a life plan in my opinion. We are super careful and even we've screwed up and landed in the ER and we are thankfully all alive to tell the tale.
I want a different life for my daughter and I am slowly but surely moving towards it with her. If this doesn't work I'll confront my fears and we'll try an out of state OIT center. For now - fingers are firmly crossed for AR101 & that Aimmune helps to normalize a method of treatment for all allergies.