Drug to counter allergies, asthma may be in offing

An Australian Nobel Prize-winning scientist is developing a drug to counter allergies and asthma, a statement said on Friday.

Still in its initial stage, the drug can be taken as tablets, capsules, liquids or powder.  

Barry Marshall, a microbiology professor from University of Western Australia, who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology in 2005 for stomach ulcer research, is working on the new drug.

The medication, named Immbalance, aims to suppress an overactive immune system.

"This actually arose from work we were doing on helicobacter, the stomach bug, for which Robin Warren and I won the Nobel Prize a few years ago," Marshall said on Friday.

"We've discovered the way it survives in your body is by suppressing the immune system so you can't get rid of it.

"I can't guarantee that it's going to cure allergy sufferers ... we think this kind of thing will bring people who are hyper reactive ... down into the normal range."

Marshall, who spent the last seven years developing the drug, said that it can be formulated as tablets, capsules, liquids or powder.

"Children could spread the powder on their cereal or put it in a drink and over the course of a few months could suppress their allergic response," he said in a UWA media release.

"We think it's going to be 100 per cent safe. It won't remove your immune system; it will just take the edge off."