 There
are always those patients who, despite your best advice,
would rather suffer the full gamut of pet allergy symptoms
than give up their furry friends. Now there's a new
cat on the block that may put those die-hard animal
lovers out of their misery, according to San Diego-based
biotech company Allerca. The company is taking pre-orders
of the world's first hypoallergenic kittens, which should
be delivered in early 2007. But while the company has
boasted some convincing scientific information to back
its claims, they have yet to publish a word of peer-reviewed
research.
OUT
OF THE BAG
The glycoprotein Fel d 1 is the prime culprit for most
allergy sufferers' symptoms. In fact, the creatures
are literally crawling with the allergen — it's
in their fur, saliva, urine, mucous, salivary glands
and hair roots.
In what Allerca's founder, Simon
Brodie, called a 50,000 to one shot, his team came across
a trio of felines who naturally produced a different
version of that Fel d 1 protein — one that didn't
seem to cause allergic reactions. They capitalized on
that discovery to create a "genetically divergent" hypoallergenic
breed — now available for nearly $4,500CDN apiece.
Allerca then enlisted Dr Sheldon
Spector, an extensively published researcher and allergist
at UCLA, to conduct some proper research on the new
breed. Dr Spector exposed 10 subjects with clinically
diagnosed cat allergies to Joshua, one of Allerca's
second-generation cats, a house cat and a "realistic"
stuffed animal as a placebo. Dr Spector told Nature
that the subjects' symptom diaries suggested Joshua
was less likely to trigger allergy symptoms. But his
research has yet to be published. "Studies would need
to be done on a cat without this allergen and published
in peer-review scientific journals before this could
be recommended," says Dr Susan Tarlo, a professor in
U of T's department of public health sciences. An Allerca
rep said they plan to submit data in early 2007.
CHEQUERED
PAST
There's also much about Allerca and its founder's past
to raise alarms. The San Diego Union-Tribune
recently ran an exposé that more than scratched
the surface of Mr Brodie's questionable business ventures.
In the late 90s, he was involved in a computer training
company that allegedly overcharged clients and misled
them about their post-course job prospects. Cerentis,
another firm associated with Mr Brodie, promised to
create the world's most powerful computer — but
the venture generated nothing but hype and a litany
of unpaid bills.
Then there's the fact that Allerca
itself was sued by Transgenic — another, older
biotech firm — over allegations that Mr Brodie
stole trade secrets. Mr Brodie allegedly approached
the firm under the guise of a prospective investor with
$2.5 million US burning a hole in his pocket. He signed
a nondisclosure agreement, took a peek at Transgenic's
plans and founded his own similar biotech company later
that year. The suit was settled with Allerca promising
to stay out of the hi-tech cat market until May 31,
2006. On September 14, the company took the world by
storm with a press release announcing they were open
for business. Allerca says advance orders now stretch
into 2008.
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