Recombinant allergens: What does the future hold?

This year we are celebrating not only the centenary of allergen-specific immunotherapy but also the 10-year anniversary of the first administration of recombinant allergen–based vaccines to allergic patients. By using recombinant DNA technology, defined and safe allergy vaccines can be produced that allow us to overcome many, if not all, of the problems associated with the use of natural allergen extracts, such as insufficient quality, allergenic activity, and poor immunogenicity. Here we provide an update of clinical studies with recombinant allergen–based vaccines, showing that some of these vaccines have undergone successful clinical evaluation up to phase III studies. Furthermore, we introduce a strategy for allergen-specific immunotherapy based on recombinant fusion proteins consisting of viral carrier proteins and allergen-derived peptides without allergenic activity, which holds the promise of being free of side effects and eventually being useful for prophylactic vaccination.