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news.DBV Technologies, creator of Viaskin, has announced a research collaboration agreement with the French National Genotyping Center (CNG) at the French Alternative energies and atomic energy commission (CEA).
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Dr J. Tost’s team at CNG uses novel technologies to analyze gene regulation and epigenetics, specifically DNA methylation. DBV and CEA/CNG will collaborate to characterize the epigenetic modifications induced by DBV’s proprietary epicutaneous immunotherapy (EPITTM).
The overall goal of the research is to understand the treatment maintenance effect over time and the predictive value of response to EPITTM treatment using Viaskin.
Preliminary experiments carried out by DBV have already demonstrated that EPIT may induce a modification of DNA methylation status.
This was presented during the recent meeting of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI) in March 2014 and will be presented at the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI) in June 2014.
DBV Technologies chairman and CEO Dr Pierre-Henri Benhamou noted that the partnership with CEA/IG/CNG represented by Dr Tost’s research team will enable the company to better describe the complex and powerful cellular mechanisms and epigenetic modulations induced by EPITTM, an immuno-modulating agent.
"As we observed from the early experiments, EPIT appears to be the only method of specific immunotherapy able to confer durable protection in case of accidental exposure to allergens.
"We believe that this is probably due to the ability to influence the immune response to allergens at the genomic level. The aim of this collaboration will be to confirm these first results and extend the research to different allergies in animal models and patients," Dr Benhamou added.