Thirty-two million Americans have a food allergy, contributing toward a global market valued at nearly forty billion dollars.
The problem is that sixty percent of those with allergies are over-diagnosed and subjected to extensive, time-consuming blood and skin testing. Isn’t there a better alternative?
Allergenis believes so. This startup has created a new food-allergy testing system. Incorporating data analytics, this system is safe, easy to access, and more accurate than current blood or skin tests. Here’s how it works:
Allergenis uses a person’s blood sample to conduct the diagnostic test. It receives a request from an allergist or an online Telehealth partner, coordinates the blood draw, and provides results along with a comprehensive personalized guide. Users can learn if they’re allergic to something, how allergic they are, and if there are any life-threatening risks associated with their allergy.
The test itself works by a proprietary method of analyzing epitopes, the exact location where an antibody binds to a cell and is recognized by the body’s immune system.
By focusing on antibodies binding to epitopes (as opposed to looking at the entire antibody), Allergenis can better determine which epitopes catalyze reactions and can predict a person’s likelihood of having a serious reaction from a food allergen with up to 93% accuracy.
Allergenis earns revenue through collaborations with pharmaceutical companies and clinical testing.
In 2022, the company raised more than four million dollars, bringing its total raised to nearly twenty million dollars. Also last year, Allergenis validated and launched its peanut allergy threshold test. Milk and egg allergy tests are planned for the near future.
Allergenis’ technology has been validated by multiple peer-reviewed studies, including the Jaffe Food Allergy Institute at Mount Sinai and the Sean Parker Institute for Food Allergy at Stanford University. The company has on-boarded more than 200 allergists at academic centers and clinics throughout the U.S. and partnered with multiple therapeutic companies enabling the use of biomarkers in clinical trials focused on bringing FDA-approved interventions to better treat and manage food allergies.