Initial funding from the Evelyn Trust enabled researchers at Addenbrooke’s Hospital to conduct trials into peanut allergy which affects one in fifty children and is the most common cause of fatal food allergy reactions.

The new therapy has been successful in the majority of the 99 children who took part in a trial conducted by researchers at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge, UK. The trial found that 84 and 91 per cent of the two groups of children treated with this new form of immunotherapy could eat at least five peanuts a day. The research was led by Dr Andrew Clark and Dr Pamela Ewan, who are world-renowned experts and have been leading allergy research for more than 20 years.

Dr Pamela Ewan commented: “The Evelyn Trust funded the pilot study in peanut desensitisation and this enabled us to apply for a major grant to carry out the definitive study. This seed funding really helped us to get off the ground, and without it, it would have been harder to pursue this research.”

"Bill Pike, Charity Director at the Evelyn Trust, said we were delighted with the results of the original pilot study which we funded in 2009. The successful outcome of that work resulted in articles in international allergy medical journals and in global media comment. The latest studies have now validated those preliminary results and provide a platform for this approach to become the recognised immunotherapy for peanut allergy."