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The Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) has accepted Acarizax  (12 standard quality house dust mite sublingual lyophilisate, or 12 SQ-HDM SLIT for short) for adults with moderate to severe persistent house dust mite allergic rhinitis that remains uncontrolled despite symptom-relieving medication. Its the first allergen immunotherapy licensed for this indication in Scotland.

Dr George Raptis, Paediatric Allergy Consultant, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said: “House dust mite allergic rhinitis presents a significant burden and ongoing challenge in daily clinical practice across Scotland. This can impact patient's quality of life with long term effects on their day-to day wellbeing but also productivity. These effects are often underreported hence we are still not able to fully understand the burden of this disease.

"The SMC’s acceptance of sublingual immunotherapy provides a vital new option to target the root cause of the allergy for patients whose symptoms remain poorly controlled despite standard treatments.”

Acarizax is indicated for use in adults (aged 18-65 years) diagnosed by clinical history and a positive test of house dust mite sensitisation (skin prick test and/or specific IgE) with at least one of the following conditions:

• Persistent moderate to severe house dust mite allergic rhinitis despite use of symptom-relieving medication
• House dust mite allergic asthma not well controlled by inhaled corticosteroids and associated with mild to severe house dust mite allergic rhinitis (patients' asthma status should be carefully evaluated before the initiation of treatment).

It is also approved for use in adolescents (aged 12-17 years) with persistent moderate to severe house dust mite allergic rhinitis despite use of symptom-relieving medication.

Acarizax was approved last year for use in England by NICE and recommended for allergic rhinitis, but not for allergic asthma.