UNC Research Leads to New Drug Aimed at Combating Peanut Allergy Posted Jan 2, 2019 Food allergies have been on the rise in the United States for the past 50 years, and it’s estimated that some 15 million Americans have some kind of food allergy. Now, a new drug trial produced with the help of University of North Carolina researchers has the potential to help the approximately 1 percent of Americans who have a peanut allergy. (Chapelboro.com)