Interview on Venom Immunotherapy with Medical Science Liaison Marc Thomas

In this article, we interview Marc Thomas, a Medical Science Liaison at HollisterStier Allergy and a professional healthcare provider in ENT allergy since 1989. Marc oversaw the allergy department for S.E.O.O. Inc. for twenty-three years, and then moved on to work with Antigen Laboratories where he eventually became Antigen’s Clinical Science Liaison before moving on to HollisterStier. In this interview, Marc delves into the intricacies of venom immunotherapy. Marc shares personal insights, explains how venom immunotherapy works, and highlights its profound impact on patients’ lives. 

Disclaimer – Marc Thomas is a paid consultant and not an employee of HollisterStier. The thoughts and opinions are his own and reflect his personal experience in the field of allergy.

Some of them know which stinging insects cause their allergy, some of them don’t. But even if they do, often they’re not clear whether their situation is potentially life-threatening. Sometimes just clarifying that, by being tested, can be helpful. Testing is done using blood tests, preferably skin tests, and we can determine if a person is sensitive. 

Once that is determined, then of course we try to convince them to embark upon immunotherapy because it’s really the only thing that can retrain the body not to react so violently to venom. As a matter of fact, 75-98% of people that go through immunotherapy for venom will not have a systemic reaction or have a reaction that is milder than before going through treatment.¹ There are not many therapies in medicine that can give patients and physicians a high amount of confidence in personal safety, but venom immunotherapy is one of them.” 

It’s similar to how, for years, we called and spoke about the strengths of allergy extracts as potency. But over time, a lot of us who have been in the industry for a long time switched away from saying potent to saying biologically active. This is because the word potency there again is another one of those words that implies poison or danger in somebody’s mind. 

Certainly, we need people to know that in handling venom, if they go about it without following proper instructions, it can be harmful and dangerous. But in the right hands and handled properly, it is a safe procedure, and most people get through it well. It has good outcomes and, if nothing else, just being able to live without being in fear that you’re going to get stung and experience a severe reaction.” 

“Although all extract treatments go through rigorous research and testing, VIT stands out because we understand that the venom allergy proteins are the cause of the allergy, so we know exactly what we’re delivering to patients. We know exactly what proteins are involved in the reaction and so we know exactly what we’re delivering and exactly how much we’re delivering. Whereas a lot of the non-standardized extracts like mold and pollens, even some animal danders, we don’t know exactly what the allergen components in some of those treatments are and we don’t know exactly what the right doses are for each individual person when it comes to their treatment.”

I’ve always compared the rapidity of the reaction the patients have to a venom sting to that of a car crash and I compare the seat belt or airbags to the epinephrine pen or medications that you might use. If you’re travelling down the road at 150 miles an hour and you crash into a bridge there’s probably not too much of a likelihood that your seat belt or airbag or any of that’s going to save you. But if you can slow that car down to 50 miles an hour, and you hit that bridge, then your seat belt or airbag will probably save you. 

If nothing else, even if we can’t build a person up to where they can tolerate a full sting, we can build their tolerance up enough to where it slows the reaction down and buys time for the medications to work or for them to get to where they can get more care. 

We’re saving lives. Patients need to understand VIT and that it is very effective. If we can get them on this treatment, it can be life-changing for patients. If nothing else, if we can slow down the reaction, we can buy them time. You can’t put a dollar sign on that.”