The Langerhans cells are at the heart of epicutaneous immunotherapy

DBV Technologies’ Viaskin platform – offering hope to allergy sufferers.

There’s been a lot of talk recently about new allergy treatments – why not visit http://www.dbv-technologies.com/en/ and see what all the fuss is about? DBV Technologies is a French company that’s interested in developing new ways of diagnosing and treating allergies.

The Langerhans cells are at the heart of epicutaneous immunotherapy
Source: http://www.dbv-technologies.com

Focusing on some of the more common allergies (cows’ milk protein allergy or CMPA, peanut and hen’s egg), it has created the Viaskin platform. This is an epicutaneous approach – it works through the skin, or more specifically, it works through the Langerhans cells (see below), which are located in the epidermis. The platform is actually a kind of adhesive patch, which contains the allergens which trigger allergic reactions when they come into contact with the patient. Although the allergens are sprayed onto the patch, they very quickly dry to form a thin layer on the patch backing. This layer then needs to be turned back into liquid form to reach the Langerhans cells. Luckily, the body’s natural warmth facilitates this process. Once the allergens begin to reach the highly tolerogenic Langerhans cells, the process of tolerization can begin in earnest.