ALK’s tree pollen and house dust mite tablets now recommended by NICE for paediatric treatment in the UK health system – ALK

ALK announced that the UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recommended the company’s tree pollen tablet (ITULAZAX) and house dust mite tablet (ACARIZAX) for children with moderate to severe allergic rhinitis whose symptoms are not controlled by symptomatic treatment.

ITULAZAX is recommended for children aged 5 to 17 with birch pollen allergy and ACARIZAX for children aged 5 to 11 with house dust mite allergy, making both tablets available to eligible children through the National Health Service (NHS).

The recommendations mark another significant milestone for ALK. ITULAZAX was already recommended by NICE for adults in August 2025 and ACARIZAX for people aged 12 to 65 in March 2025. With today’s decisions, both of ALK’s sublingual immunotherapy tablets are now recommended for children as well as adults.

The recommendations represent a significant shift in how severe hay fever and house dust mite allergy are managed in childhood, providing access to a treatment that targets the underlying cause of the allergy to deliver long-term symptom relief.

ALK’s Executive Vice President of Commercial Operations in Europe, Flora Beiche-Scholz, says: “We are very happy with NICE’s recommendations which bring the full potential of our sublingual allergy immunotherapy tablets to patients of all ages in the UK. With both ITULAZAX and ACARIZAX now recommended by NICE, patients can access a treatment that addresses the root cause of the allergy through the NHS. After years of building the clinical evidence, our focus is now on making sure that eligible families can benefit from a treatment without delay.”

Allergic rhinitis – inflammation inside the nose caused by an allergy, with symptoms including sneezing, congestion, and a runny or blocked nose – affects between 10 and 15 per cent of children in the UK, with hay fever and house dust mite allergy among the most common triggers. Around 8 in 10 children with moderate to severe symptoms struggle to sleep, leaving them tired and less able to concentrate at school the following day.

The recommendations come against a backdrop of worsening allergy seasons with climate change reported to have prolonged the high-pollen season by one to two weeks compared with the 1990s. The decisions also follow the launch of the UK’s first National Allergy Strategy in April 2026. NICE is expected to publish a Final Guidance in late August 2026, after which the NHS systems in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are required to implement ITULAZAX and ACARIZAX in the paediatric treatment practices.