A New Hope for People with Peanut Allergies: St Vincent’s Leads Life-Changing Trial

Lucy Jones, a well-known baker from Sydney’s Northern Beaches, is taking part in a global medical breakthrough at St Vincent’s—by participating in a world-first clinical trial aimed at revolutionising peanut allergy treatment.

The trial at St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney, is part of a Phase 1 study testing the safety of a new injectable therapy. The treatment is designed to offer fast, long-lasting protection against peanut allergies—potentially with just a single injection.

“Being part of this phase one trial with a novel mechanism of action, and trying to prove safety to give our patients more options is really exciting for us” says Dr Winnie Tong, a Clinical Researcher part of the team. “The defining thing I learned from my time at St Vincent’s—and also as a medical student—is that good clinical research is fundamental to improving treatment options and care for patients.”

For people living with severe allergies, the impact goes far beyond avoiding certain foods. Dr Jaqueline Loprete, a lead Clinical Investigator involved in the trial, explains:

“It actually impacts more of your life than just simply avoiding that dish on the menu. It plays a lot into how you decide to socialise, and move about in the world. You’ve got a constant level of anxiety that is underlying everything that you do. And it has significant psychosocial impacts on patients. So we need to give them something so much better than saying ‘avoid what you can and carry your EpiPen’… It’s more about how they can move about in the world in a freer manner and with less anxiety that I think is going to be the really exciting thing when it comes to allergy research.”

The trial is a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study—the gold standard in clinical research.

“Most people like to eat, right?” says Dr Andrew Carr, a lead investigator on the study. “And we all like to eat without having to think. We want it to be an enjoyable experience, not a scary one. And hopefully this will be one thing that might change it for some people.”

Through this trial and countless others, our teams at St Vincent’s remain focused on what matters most: giving patients safer, more empowering options. And thanks to participants like Lucy Jones, that future may be closer than ever.

Learn more about Lucy’s story, the trial and its impact on patient outcomes: