Translational Allergy and Omalizumab: The Pioneer

Backgound: The introduction of monoclonal antibodies into therapy has brought great progress in every field of medicine. Omalizumab is the first monoclonal antibody successfully used in allergology. We wanted to evaluate the impact in the medical literature of this molecule. Materials and Methods: We have identified omalizumab as the reference molecule in clinical allergology to evaluate the impact of the translational approach in this field throw the amount of data present in the literature on this subject. We have therefore carried out a research on the three main scientific databases (PubMed, Scopus and WoS) and we have documented the growing number of scientific publications on this molecule in over 20 years (1996 first publication retrived for omalizumab) and since 2003 when the molecule received the authorization by the Food and Drug Administration. Results: More than 5,000 scientific articles have been published with a maximum of almost 500 per year in 2018, which will certainly be exceeded in 2019 based on data to date. Since it is the first biologic drug approved for the treatment of immuno-allergic disorders with consolidated results in the treatment of asthma and chronic urticaria, while it is widening its therapeutic potential, we have chosen omalizumab as an example of the possibilities and successes that translational research can also reach in allergology. Conclusion: Such a significant impact of this molecule in the medical literature goes hand in hand with the leading role that this molecule has today in the therapy of allergic diseases. The impact of omalizumab in a field such as allergology in which progress is still rather slow demonstrates how, even in this discipline, understanding the finer pathogenetic mechanisms allows to develop targeted therapy with great benefits.