FARE Statement on Public Comment to ICER Regarding Peanut Allergy Therapy Under Review

The following statement is posted in relation to public comments submitted by Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE), the largest private funder of food allergy research in the world, addressed to the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER), an organization currently assessing the comparative clinical effectiveness and value of treatments for peanut allergy. ICER is examining two types of therapies to induce immune tolerance — Viaskin® Peanut (DBV Technologies) and AR101 (Aimmune Therapeutics) — as well as non-commercialized oral immunotherapy (OIT):

“FARE commends ICER for engaging the peanut allergy community to inform its Peanut Allergy assessment. We encouraged ICER to adopt a more patient-driven approach to assessing the value of food allergy therapies and reach a decision that increases their accessibility. As ICER has acknowledged, the existing burden on patients and their families is high, and families can experience life-long issues associated with perceived societal stigmas, restricted lifestyles and anxiety over potential allergic reactions. 

These challenges are significant, and we believe it’s necessary for ICER to more appropriately account for the full breadth and impact of food allergies in its cost effectiveness model and final evidence report. The proposed base case model currently focuses exclusively on direct medical costs, and FARE believes this approach has the potential to significantly underestimate the true impact of treatment. ICER needs to more fully consider the positive impact on patients and the revolutionary nature of these treatments.

FARE welcomes the opportunity to provide comments to ICER to support their value assessment. By working together, we can ensure our ability to create a new paradigm where people with a peanut allergy will be safe where they live, work and play.”