Stallergenes hunts for U.S. partner

European allergy company Stallergenes is preparing to look for a U.S. partner for its oral hay-fever treatment Oralair. The search will begin in Q4 after the France-based company meets with the FDA. CEO Albert Saporta says Stallergenes has retained Torreya Partners to help with its search and hopes to announce a deal by June 2011. "We are all set to begin our search for a partner," Saporta says, as quoted by Bloomberg. "The kind of partner we are looking for must have a strong sales force in...

Merck, Stallergenes race to FDA with new allergy treatments

Merck and Stallergenes are preparing to approach the FDA with two new therapies that promise to replace the traditional allergy shot with sub-lingual treatments that would be a lot easier to take as well as safer to dispense. "It takes probably three years, at least, of immunotherapy to produce a good and lasting result," Dr. Harold Nelson, an allergist at National Jewish Health in Denver, tells the Los Angeles Times. "An awful lot of people get tired of it." And in rare cases, usually...