You may not have heard of DBV-Technologies before – if not, and you’re an allergy sufferer, you could do worse than take a look at DBV Technologies.com. This French company’s website will give you the inside track on its revolutionary epicutaneous patch technology, which could shake up the world of allergy treatment like no other technique.

The idea of a patch (shown in the picture below) to treat allergies may seem so simple that you might wonder why it’s never been tried before. Well, the basic concept is quite straightforward, but the technology that enables it to work is not, revolving around electrically-charged antigens delivered to the patch via an electrospray. A kind of ‘condensation effect’ created between the patch and the skin then enables these antigens to penetrate the skin in non-invasive fashion. This is what makes this approach much safer than traditional methods. DBV-Technologies is currently working on patches for cows’ milk, egg and peanut, although the patch principle could in theory be extended to cover many other kinds of allergies.