5 ms·

Allergy immunotherapy. I started a company on the backs of this treatment. The way we treat allergies today, with Zyrtec and Claritin, is medieval medicine. It

Allergy immunotherapy. I started a company on the backs of this treatment. The way we treat allergies today, with Zyrtec and Claritin, is medieval medicine. It doesn't solve the underlying problem; it just tries to cover it up. Allergy immunotherapy is the future. Most people don't realize that allergies are now a curable disease. In the future, taking Claritin for allergies is going to seem like taking Tylenol for an ear infection. Why would you treat the symptoms when you could just cure the disease? I started Wyndly (https://www.wyndly.com https://www.wyndly.com) to bring immunotherapy for pollen, pets, and dust across the USA. But we'll expand into food allergies soon, too.

hwatkins 6y ago
This look interesting, it took some digging to get to what the actual treatment is, so it gets your body use to the allergen to build up tolerance. What happens when you have multiple pollen allergies, how does it track all of them. Also seems like many pollens will be region specific, different trees, etc.
- ahstilde 6y ago
  We use an allergy test to diagnose your allergy profile, then we treat you for exactly what you're allergic to!
jalada 6y ago
Here in the UK it's incredible how little immunotherapy is prescribed despite the fact that it's been available for ages and known to work. Anecdotally I have heard one problem is that allergy medicine is just not something that GPs are kept well informed about. My GP told me that it was 'unwise to mess with the immune system like this'. Uhh...vaccines? (source: I have had immunotherapy)
cpitman 6y ago
Surprised to hear this is uncommon, I received allergy shots >20 years ago and it was the only allergy treatment (after many attempted medications) that had a sizable impact. Besides the delivery vehicle, what are the differences between allergy shots and these droplets?
- ahstilde 6y ago
  Well, the delivery vehicle of the sublingual mucosal membrane means there's a much better safety profile! But otherwise, the mechanism of changing the immune response is the same.
DoingSomeThings 6y ago
I've received allergy shots in the past. Seems to be a relatively common treatment in the south. It's just inconvenient due to office visits. Looks like the innovation here is the move the serum from intradermal to a liquid, oral treatment?
- nbardy 6y ago
  That's a big leap for me. I spent 1 hour twice a week commuting to get allergy shots.
forthwall 6y ago
That's really cool that this is a thing, I remember that my friend tried to this to himself by eating fish he was allergic to and then epi-penning himself until his body started to ignore it. (took years!) Glad this appears to be a way safer method
astuyvenberg 6y ago
Immunotherapy of all kinds is poised to become the revolutionary medicine of our generation. I'm excited to see what Wyndly does in the future!
king_magic 6y ago
I've had allergy immunotherapy shots going on 30 years now. I'd say there has been an improvement, but... is the technology going to get significantly better anytime soon? I'm skeptical - but happy to be convinced otherwise.
- ahstilde 6y ago
  Tons of data that the drops are an improvement over shots, if only for the patient experience! “Patients who have done [allergy drops] and finished a course are now free of taking any allergy medications and they don’t have symptoms anymore.” Dr. Sandra Lin, video interview, Sublingual Immunotherapy (SLIT) for Allergy Treatment: Johns Hopkins | Q&A, author of Efficacy and Safety of Subcutaneous and Sublingual Immunotherapy for Allergic Rhinoconjunctivitis and Asthma (2017) Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpWomI4iPLY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpWomI4iPLY Paper: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28964530/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28964530/ Aqueous allergy drops are both safe and effective for environmental allergies (aka allergic rhinitis): - This has been proven through 30 years of data published by leading allergists in key journals, and confirmed in 2011 independent Cochrane review Learn more: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21154351/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21154351/ Aqueous allergy drops have a better safety profile than allergy shots - Unlike shots, there has never been a documented fatality to allergy drops in 30 years of use - The risk of a systemic reaction is thought to be 1 per 100 million doses or 1 per 526,000 treatment years Learn more: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22150126/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22150126/ Allergy drops are equally as effective as allergy shots - They have widespread use in Europe (up to 80% of the immunotherapy market in some countries) - Comparison studies by leading allergists have shown both allergy shots and allergy drops to be effective but no clear superiority of one mode over the other. Learn more: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23557834/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23557834/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26853126/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26853126/
  - king_magic 6y ago
    Wow, I never knew drops were even an option!
yomansat 6y ago
I understand that each person is different, but how long does the therapy go for until someone becomes "immune"? I see other comments mentioning 20-30 years, which sounds a lot more expensive than having to take the medieval equivalent for just as long. I hope I'm wrong!
- bb123 6y ago
  Hey if someone said by the time I’m 40 I wouldn’t have to live in fear of peanuts anymore, I’d pay whatever they asked.
- ahstilde 6y ago
  Good feedback! We suggest patients try out the treatment for 6 months to make sure their body accepts the immunotherapy, and then another 4.5 years to lock-in lifelong relief.
  - yomansat 6y ago
    Great to know, thank you!
pmarreck 6y ago
Speaking as a very rational multiple-allergy sufferer (before 30? None. Then, like a dozen things!!) who has gotten allergy shots for years now... Have any data to back up this substitute? Also, Zyrtec and Claritin did nothing for me, I’m an Allegra guy
- ahstilde 6y ago
  Tons of data! “Patients who have done [allergy drops] and finished a course are now free of taking any allergy medications and they don’t have symptoms anymore.” Dr. Sandra Lin, video interview, Sublingual Immunotherapy (SLIT) for Allergy Treatment: Johns Hopkins | Q&A, author of Efficacy and Safety of Subcutaneous and Sublingual Immunotherapy for Allergic Rhinoconjunctivitis and Asthma (2017) Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpWomI4iPLY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpWomI4iPLY Paper: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28964530/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28964530/ Aqueous allergy drops are both safe and effective for environmental allergies (aka allergic rhinitis): - This has been proven through 30 years of data published by leading allergists in key journals, and confirmed in 2011 independent Cochrane review Learn more: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21154351/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21154351/ Aqueous allergy drops have a better safety profile than allergy shots - Unlike shots, there has never been a documented fatality to allergy drops in 30 years of use - The risk of a systemic reaction is thought to be 1 per 100 million doses or 1 per 526,000 treatment years Learn more: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22150126/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22150126/ Allergy drops are equally as effective as allergy shots - They have widespread use in Europe (up to 80% of the immunotherapy market in some countries) - Comparison studies by leading allergists have shown both allergy shots and allergy drops to be effective but no clear superiority of one mode over the other. Learn more: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23557834/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23557834/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26853126/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26853126/
  - pmarreck 6y ago
    Nice! I'm going to review this and see what my allergist says
m463 6y ago
many years ago, I had allergy problems and normal allergy shots (increasing dose injections of small quantities of allergens) would not work. They gave me the scratch test and I was allergic to many things, then later I got the prick test and I was allergic to the rest. What my doctor told me was -- you're going to get increasing doses a few times a week, it will take a lot of time be hard, and at some point you'll bump into an adverse reaction while you're in the waiting room after the shot. The medical system was kind of broken wrt to my plight. After consulting a number of folks, I finally found EPD and went to treatment. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enzyme_potentiated_desensitization https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enzyme_potentiated_desensitiza... It was really helping, then they stopped offering it in my area. I was pretty bummed they did away with it, because it helped me without side effects. My symptoms decreased in severity and eventually I felt fine. Apparently it was from the UK and worked well there.
axaxs 6y ago
Definitely interested...but I couldn't find from your site exactly for how long one is to use the drops. Is this 99/mo forever? For 6 months? The answer to that question pretty much determines my interest.
- ahstilde 6y ago
  Good feedback! We suggest patients try out the treatment for 6 months to make sure their body accepts the immunotherapy, and then another 4.5 years to lock-in lifelong relief.
hnick 6y ago
I ran a quick search and apparently it works for stuff like bees and mosquitoes too. Interesting. If I had a couple thousand spare which seems to be the going rate in AU it could be worth trying for my wife who gets giant mosquito bumps that itch for days (they love her blood).
contradistinct 6y ago
Won't ever work for most severe food allergies (e.g. peanuts) right? From what I understand, immunotherapy has not been found to be safe/effective for these allergies.
- hadleycode 6y ago
  Interested to know as well. Does comment OP have an answer?
meue 6y ago
This is super interesting, thank for you sharing! I am curious - how does you handle symptom management? Are there antihistamines in the drops, or, perhaps some other form of system/method for controlling response?
- ahstilde 6y ago
  Our treatment can be taken alongside traditional allergy care like antihistamines and corticosteroids to manage allergy symptoms until immunotolerance is established.
mariushn 6y ago
How is this different than Staloral? (besides subscription vs regular purchase)

hwatkins 6y ago

This look interesting, it took some digging to get to what the actual treatment is, so it gets your body use to the allergen to build up tolerance. What happens when you have multiple pollen allergies, how does it track all of them. Also seems like many pollens will be region specific, different trees, etc.

ahstilde 6y ago
We use an allergy test to diagnose your allergy profile, then we treat you for exactly what you're allergic to!

jalada 6y ago

Here in the UK it's incredible how little immunotherapy is prescribed despite the fact that it's been available for ages and known to work. Anecdotally I have heard one problem is that allergy medicine is just not something that GPs are kept well informed about. My GP told me that it was 'unwise to mess with the immune system like this'. Uhh...vaccines? (source: I have had immunotherapy)

cpitman 6y ago

Surprised to hear this is uncommon, I received allergy shots >20 years ago and it was the only allergy treatment (after many attempted medications) that had a sizable impact. Besides the delivery vehicle, what are the differences between allergy shots and these droplets?

ahstilde 6y ago
Well, the delivery vehicle of the sublingual mucosal membrane means there's a much better safety profile! But otherwise, the mechanism of changing the immune response is the same.

DoingSomeThings 6y ago

I've received allergy shots in the past. Seems to be a relatively common treatment in the south. It's just inconvenient due to office visits. Looks like the innovation here is the move the serum from intradermal to a liquid, oral treatment?

nbardy 6y ago
That's a big leap for me. I spent 1 hour twice a week commuting to get allergy shots.

forthwall 6y ago

That's really cool that this is a thing, I remember that my friend tried to this to himself by eating fish he was allergic to and then epi-penning himself until his body started to ignore it. (took years!) Glad this appears to be a way safer method

astuyvenberg 6y ago

Immunotherapy of all kinds is poised to become the revolutionary medicine of our generation. I'm excited to see what Wyndly does in the future!

king_magic 6y ago

I've had allergy immunotherapy shots going on 30 years now. I'd say there has been an improvement, but... is the technology going to get significantly better anytime soon? I'm skeptical - but happy to be convinced otherwise.

ahstilde 6y ago
Tons of data that the drops are an improvement over shots, if only for the patient experience! “Patients who have done [allergy drops] and finished a course are now free of taking any allergy medications and they don’t have symptoms anymore.” Dr. Sandra Lin, video interview, Sublingual Immunotherapy (SLIT) for Allergy Treatment: Johns Hopkins | Q&A, author of Efficacy and Safety of Subcutaneous and Sublingual Immunotherapy for Allergic Rhinoconjunctivitis and Asthma (2017) Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpWomI4iPLY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpWomI4iPLY Paper: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28964530/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28964530/ Aqueous allergy drops are both safe and effective for environmental allergies (aka allergic rhinitis): - This has been proven through 30 years of data published by leading allergists in key journals, and confirmed in 2011 independent Cochrane review Learn more: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21154351/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21154351/ Aqueous allergy drops have a better safety profile than allergy shots - Unlike shots, there has never been a documented fatality to allergy drops in 30 years of use - The risk of a systemic reaction is thought to be 1 per 100 million doses or 1 per 526,000 treatment years Learn more: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22150126/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22150126/ Allergy drops are equally as effective as allergy shots - They have widespread use in Europe (up to 80% of the immunotherapy market in some countries) - Comparison studies by leading allergists have shown both allergy shots and allergy drops to be effective but no clear superiority of one mode over the other. Learn more: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23557834/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23557834/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26853126/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26853126/
- king_magic 6y ago
  Wow, I never knew drops were even an option!

yomansat 6y ago

I understand that each person is different, but how long does the therapy go for until someone becomes "immune"? I see other comments mentioning 20-30 years, which sounds a lot more expensive than having to take the medieval equivalent for just as long. I hope I'm wrong!

bb123 6y ago
Hey if someone said by the time I’m 40 I wouldn’t have to live in fear of peanuts anymore, I’d pay whatever they asked.
ahstilde 6y ago
Good feedback! We suggest patients try out the treatment for 6 months to make sure their body accepts the immunotherapy, and then another 4.5 years to lock-in lifelong relief.
- yomansat 6y ago
  Great to know, thank you!

pmarreck 6y ago

Speaking as a very rational multiple-allergy sufferer (before 30? None. Then, like a dozen things!!) who has gotten allergy shots for years now... Have any data to back up this substitute? Also, Zyrtec and Claritin did nothing for me, I’m an Allegra guy

ahstilde 6y ago
Tons of data! “Patients who have done [allergy drops] and finished a course are now free of taking any allergy medications and they don’t have symptoms anymore.” Dr. Sandra Lin, video interview, Sublingual Immunotherapy (SLIT) for Allergy Treatment: Johns Hopkins | Q&A, author of Efficacy and Safety of Subcutaneous and Sublingual Immunotherapy for Allergic Rhinoconjunctivitis and Asthma (2017) Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpWomI4iPLY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpWomI4iPLY Paper: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28964530/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28964530/ Aqueous allergy drops are both safe and effective for environmental allergies (aka allergic rhinitis): - This has been proven through 30 years of data published by leading allergists in key journals, and confirmed in 2011 independent Cochrane review Learn more: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21154351/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21154351/ Aqueous allergy drops have a better safety profile than allergy shots - Unlike shots, there has never been a documented fatality to allergy drops in 30 years of use - The risk of a systemic reaction is thought to be 1 per 100 million doses or 1 per 526,000 treatment years Learn more: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22150126/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22150126/ Allergy drops are equally as effective as allergy shots - They have widespread use in Europe (up to 80% of the immunotherapy market in some countries) - Comparison studies by leading allergists have shown both allergy shots and allergy drops to be effective but no clear superiority of one mode over the other. Learn more: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23557834/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23557834/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26853126/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26853126/
- pmarreck 6y ago
  Nice! I'm going to review this and see what my allergist says

m463 6y ago

many years ago, I had allergy problems and normal allergy shots (increasing dose injections of small quantities of allergens) would not work. They gave me the scratch test and I was allergic to many things, then later I got the prick test and I was allergic to the rest. What my doctor told me was -- you're going to get increasing doses a few times a week, it will take a lot of time be hard, and at some point you'll bump into an adverse reaction while you're in the waiting room after the shot. The medical system was kind of broken wrt to my plight. After consulting a number of folks, I finally found EPD and went to treatment. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enzyme_potentiated_desensitization https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enzyme_potentiated_desensitiza... It was really helping, then they stopped offering it in my area. I was pretty bummed they did away with it, because it helped me without side effects. My symptoms decreased in severity and eventually I felt fine. Apparently it was from the UK and worked well there.

axaxs 6y ago

Definitely interested...but I couldn't find from your site exactly for how long one is to use the drops. Is this 99/mo forever? For 6 months? The answer to that question pretty much determines my interest.

ahstilde 6y ago
Good feedback! We suggest patients try out the treatment for 6 months to make sure their body accepts the immunotherapy, and then another 4.5 years to lock-in lifelong relief.

hnick 6y ago

I ran a quick search and apparently it works for stuff like bees and mosquitoes too. Interesting. If I had a couple thousand spare which seems to be the going rate in AU it could be worth trying for my wife who gets giant mosquito bumps that itch for days (they love her blood).

contradistinct 6y ago

Won't ever work for most severe food allergies (e.g. peanuts) right? From what I understand, immunotherapy has not been found to be safe/effective for these allergies.

hadleycode 6y ago
Interested to know as well. Does comment OP have an answer?

meue 6y ago

This is super interesting, thank for you sharing! I am curious - how does you handle symptom management? Are there antihistamines in the drops, or, perhaps some other form of system/method for controlling response?

ahstilde 6y ago
Our treatment can be taken alongside traditional allergy care like antihistamines and corticosteroids to manage allergy symptoms until immunotolerance is established.

mariushn 6y ago

How is this different than Staloral? (besides subscription vs regular purchase)