There are no treatment options approved for peanut allergy, which is commonly found in American children. But new findings presented at the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) Annual Scientific Meeting and published in The New England Journal of Medicine reveal that a therapy to protect people with this allergy is awaiting review by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), reports ACAAI. For the study, scientists recruited participants between ages 4 to 55 (most were 4 to 17 years old) who had a peanut allergy for an oral food challenge (OFC). During these food allergy tests, individuals eat a small dose of food under the supervision of a board-certified allergist to test for a severe reaction. According to Jay Lieberman, MD, vice chair of the ACAAI Food Allergy Committee and a coauthor of the study, this treatment won’t allow people with peanut allergies to eat the nuts with impunity. But the protocol will help protect these folks in the event of an accidental exposure. Researchers hope the FDA will approve the therapy so it becomes available as a prescription in the second half of 2019.