A stainless steel stamp about the size of a quarter is at the center of a first-of-its-kind clinical trial underway in Atlanta, where researchers are testing whether a few minutes of skin contact each week can retrain the immune systems of people with peanut allergies. The device, created by Atlanta-based Moonlight Therapeutics Inc., uses microneedles to deliver tiny amounts of peanut protein just beneath the skin, and study patients are exposed to it once a week for three minutes per session.
Children's Healthcare of Atlanta and Emory University teamed up to study the approach, according to WSB-TV, which first reported on the local trial. The Phase 1 study, known as SURVEYOR, launched in June 2026 as an open-label trial enrolling roughly 40 peanut-allergic participants ages 4 to 55 across multiple U.S. sites, according to BioSpace. Participants receive weekly dose escalations ranging from 1 to 100 micrograms of peanut protein over five weeks, with the microneedle capable of delivering doses as small as 1 microgram.
Why Atlanta Families Are Watching Closely
The stakes are personal for a lot of local households. Children's Healthcare of Atlanta estimates that roughly 30,000 children in the metro area live with a peanut allergy, a fraction of the more than 1.2 million peanut-allergic children nationwide. Food allergies affect about 8% of people overall, or roughly two children in every classroom, and food-allergic reactions send children to emergency rooms about once every three minutes, per the seed reporting.
Beyond the physical risk, children with peanut allergies can face diagnosable anxiety and depression, impaired quality of life, stress, and social isolation, according to the same WSB-TV account. Dr. Brian Vickery, the trial's principal investigator, said researchers are working on solutions to protect children from peanut exposures and help them live normal everyday lives. Vickery serves as Chief of Allergy and Immunology and Director of the Food Allergy Program at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, and he is also an associate professor of pediatrics at Emory University School of Medicine.
A Narrow Window Since Palforzia's Exit
Vickery has been clear about what the therapy is not. He said the skin stamp will not cure a peanut allergy, but the technology could allow consistent delivery of low doses that researchers hope will prove safe and well tolerated, potentially making severely allergic people less sensitive over time.
The trial arrives just weeks after manufacturer Stallergenes Greer discontinued Palforzia, the first and only FDA-approved oral immunotherapy for peanut allergy, on July 31. The company cited low commercial adoption rather than any safety or efficacy problems, according to MedPage Today. With Palforzia gone, Genentech's injectable antibody Xolair remains the only FDA-approved food allergy treatment in the country, requiring shots every two to four weeks, per HCPLive.
How the Microneedle Works Under the Skin
The microneedle delivers microgram amounts of peanut protein directly to specialized immune cells in the skin, namely Langerhans cells and dermal dendritic cells, inducing tolerance without requiring gastrointestinal absorption or a systemic injection, according to Allergic Living. That mechanism traces back to earlier animal research: a March 2022 preclinical mouse study by Michigan Medicine researchers found that a five-minute weekly dose delivered via the microneedle stamp desensitized allergic mice faster than a 24-hour daily epicutaneous skin patch, and did so using a tenfold lower protein dose.
That comparison matters because a rival approach is also advancing. DBV Technologies has said it plans to submit a Biologics License Application to the FDA in late 2026 for Viaskin Peanut, a daily 24-hour adhesive skin patch for children ages 4 to 7, following positive Phase 3 results reported in December 2025, according to BioPharma Dive. Moonlight's three-minute weekly application is a stark contrast to that all-day wear time, though Viaskin's patch has previously faced its own FDA delays tied to skin adherence.
Federal Backing and a Long Regulatory Road
Moonlight Therapeutics has secured more than $5 million in cumulative non-dilutive federal grants from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, including a Fast-Track Small Business Innovation Research grant awarded in July 2023 to help advance the device, known as MOON101, into human trials. The company completed its pre-Investigational New Drug consultation with the FDA back in January 2022, then received formal clearance in late 2025 to begin Phase 1 testing, according to BioSpace's account of the company's regulatory history.
The Atlanta study is designed to unfold in three phases, and researchers have not yet said how quickly the therapy might advance into pediatric-specific testing following the initial adult safety data. It's also unclear whether the low, consistent doses that researchers hope are safe and well tolerated in this early phase will translate into at-home self-administration in later-stage trials, a question that remains open as SURVEYOR continues enrolling participants across the country.
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