Allergen immunotherapy and biologics in respiratory allergy: friends or foes?

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

Allergen-specific immunotherapy has established as an indispensable disease-modifying treatment in allergy practice but its safety and efficacy might be furtherly improved by combining it with other drugs or therapeutic intervention that co-modulate immune type 2 immune networks.

RECENT FINDINGS

In the past two decades, clinical research focused on AIT and omalizumab co-treatment to improve both safety and long-term efficacy of allergic disease treatment. Recently, combination of AIT with other biologicals targeting different mediators of type 2 inflammation has been set up with interesting preliminary results. Moreover, AIT current contraindication might be overcome by contemporarily controlling underlying type 2 inflammation in severe atopic patients.

SUMMARY

AIT--biological combination treatment can realize a complex multitargeted treatment strategy allowing for consistently improving disease control and sparing steroid administration.