Enzyme Potentiated Desensitization (EPD)

EPD is a new form of immunotherapy for "classical" food and inhalant allergies, and involves only one shot of antigen extracts every two months. It does not abolish allergies, but it raises the patient's tolerance threshold so that ordinary exposures to aller­gens are harmless—i.e., it takes a much higher dose of allergens to cause symptoms. EPD works best with hay fever and house dust allergy.

EPD has not been cleared by the FDA. Since it's composed mainly of antigens, it's not patentable. No one wants to spend the $20 million to gain FDA approval so that others can manu­facture and sell the product, too.

Allergist Vincent Marinkovich, M.D., says, "I'm using EPD in my practice with good results. It certainly beats the two-shots-a-week standard regimen." He points out that it's less ex­pensive than regular shots and some insurers will pay for it.