Explore the latest breakthroughs in allergy treatments, including FDA approvals and emerging therapies that enhance patient care and address systemic challenges.
This year's coverage of the allergy space included themes of treatment breakthroughs, regulatory milestones, patient quality of life, and the broader systemic impacts of allergic disease. From chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU)—a historically difficult-to-treat condition—to the hidden neuropsychiatric effects of allergic inflammation and longstanding access and cost challenges, these top articles reflect an evolving field.
Here are the top 5 AJMC.com articles and videos on allergy for 2025.
The top allergy content included FDA approvals in chronic spontaneous urticaria. | Image Credit: StockWorld - stock.adobe.com

This article contextualizes the burden of allergies and asthma in the US, emphasizing both their prevalence and economic impacts. Allergic conditions affect over 100 million Americans, with food allergies and asthma contributing billions in direct costs and even more in lost productivity. Insurance disparities—especially for those on public plans like Medicaid—limit access to specialists and treatments, heightening inequity. High out-of-pocket costs for essentials such as epinephrine auto-injectors and biologics persist despite some recent price caps.
Beyond economics, the piece highlights how policy rollbacks on environmental and public health programs could worsen asthma outcomes and hinder prevention efforts.
Emerging treatment options show promising results for CSU, an allergic skin condition with limited responses to traditional therapies, according to a review. It highlighted new therapies, such as dupilumab (Dupixent; Sanofi and Regeneron), remibrutinib (Rhapsido; Novartis), and barzolvolimab, that have shown complete response rates in clinical settings, especially in hard-to-treat autoimmune CSU. The IL-4/IL-13 pathway blocker dupilumab and Bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor remibrutinib demonstrated notable response rates with manageable safety profiles, while barzolvolimab showed promising results in phase 2 studies.
The article underscores how understanding disease endotypes and immune pathways could usher in precision medicine for CSU, moving beyond antihistamines and earlier biologics. Emerging biosimilars and pipeline agents further reflect a rapidly evolving therapeutic landscape. Preparedness for long-term follow-up studies will be key to understanding whether these treatments can alter the disease course.
The FDA in September approved remibrutinib, a novel BTK inhibitor, for the treatment of CSU. Remibrutinib’s action on BTK represents an innovative mechanism in CSU therapy, offering a new option for patients unresponsive to antihistamines and other treatments. Clinical studies showed clinically meaningful responses, including complete symptom relief for a substantial portion of patients, alongside an acceptable safety profile with common adverse events such as respiratory infections and headaches. This approval expands the therapeutic arsenal in CSU and reflects a shift toward targeted, mechanism-specific approaches in allergic disease management.
In this interview, clinician Gary Falcetano, PA-C, AE-C, breaks down how chronic allergic inflammation can influence brain function and emotional well-being. He explains that persistent inflammatory signaling and increased blood-brain barrier permeability can allow cytokines to alter neurotransmitter systems, affecting serotonin and dopamine pathways tied to mood regulation. Key brain regions involved in memory, executive function, and stress responses—including the hippocampus, prefrontal cortex, and amygdala—may be dysregulated by systemic immune activation. Additionally, changes in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis could disrupt cortisol balance, compounding effects on cognition and mood.
The FDA’s expanded approval of dupilumab for CSU in patients 12 years and older was the first new targeted therapy approval for CSU in over 10 years. Dupilumab blocks IL-4 and IL-13 signaling, addressing type 2 inflammatory pathways that drive hives and itching when standard antihistamines fail. Phase 3 trials showed significant reductions in itch and urticaria severity vs placebo at 24 weeks, with a meaningful proportion of patients achieving full symptom relief. Some adverse events—such as injection-site reactions—were more common with active treatment, but overall safety was consistent with expectations.