The Natasha Trial uses small daily doses of everyday food items taken under medical supervision. This can train the bodies of children and young people to tolerate an allergen such as milk or peanut.
The approach is known as oral immunotherapy (OIT). It is hoped this will allow children with food allergies to live without the fear of a potentially fatal reaction.
The three-year trial is funded by The Natasha Allergy Research Foundation. It is also being run at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Sheffield Children's NHS Foundation Trust.
Natasha Ednan-Laperouse died aged 15 from a severe food allergic reaction. The £2.5 million Natasha Trial is the first major study to be funded by Natasha’s Foundation, set up by her parents Nadim and Tanya. A total of 139 children, aged two to 23-years-old have started treatment on the trial.
Tanya said: “We are so happy that some children with peanut and milk allergies are already seeing the benefits of using everyday foods under medical supervision to treat their allergic disease. If Natasha were alive today, this is exactly the type of research she would have loved to be part of. This is a major first step in our mission to make food allergies history. We look forward to seeing the final results.”