Platform A · Bi-enzymatic oral tablet · Nutraceutical and pharma path
Degrade histamine at the source.
Plant-derived diamine oxidase (DAO) paired with catalase in a gastro-resistant tablet. DAO breaks down dietary histamine in the gut; catalase removes the hydrogen peroxide DAO releases, so the enzyme keeps working.
The bi-enzymatic cycle
DAO degrades · Catalase recycles
Protected by two granted patents
US 9,878,020 B2
Oral enzyme compositions for intestinal delivery
Covers DAO and catalase formulated for oral delivery to the intestine. Assignee: Histapharm Inc., Longueuil, Quebec, Canada. Inventors include Dr Mircea Alexandru Mateescu and Dr Pompilia Ispas-Szabo.
EP 2 694 098 B1
European counterpart of the US patent
Granted by the European Patent Office (EPO), the patent authority for its member states, extending the same oral DAO and catalase technology to Europe.
The role
In histamine intolerance, the gut's own DAO enzyme is too low to break down the histamine in food such as aged cheese, cured meat, wine or fish. EquiHista® supplies a plant DAO, protected by catalase, exactly where that histamine arrives: in the intestine, before it is absorbed.
Degrades histamine locally, before it reaches the bloodstream.
Antihistamines block receptors and leave histamine in place. EquiHista® breaks the molecule down.
An oral tablet timed to meet histamine as food enters the intestine.
The mechanism
DAO uses oxygen and water to degrade histamine and releases hydrogen peroxide, which damages DAO itself and the gut lining. Catalase turns that peroxide back into oxygen and water: the very inputs DAO needs next.
01
The tablet's protective matrix carries both enzymes intact through stomach acid.
02
Released in the intestine, plant DAO breaks histamine down:
histamine + O2 + H2O → aldehyde + H2O2 + NH3
03
Hydrogen peroxide is neutralised as fast as it forms:
2 H2O2 → 2 H2O + O2
04
Freed from its own by-product, DAO stays active longer and degrades more histamine per dose.
Advantages
Hydrogen peroxide inactivates DAO as it works. Catalase removes it, so the enzyme lasts through intestinal transit.
In the inventors' 2017 study on human intestinal (Caco-2) cells, adding catalase to plant DAO reduced the damage linked to peroxide.
If catalase multiplies DAO's output, the same result needs less DAO, lowering cost per dose. The 2027 study measures that factor.
A tablet format, in a market dominated by capsules, with a matrix designed to release the enzymes past the stomach.
DAO from legume (pea) seedlings, with no porcine kidney extract, the traditional animal source of DAO.
The oral DAO and catalase composition is covered by granted US and European patents held by Histapharm.
February to March 2027 · Comparative efficacy study
A six-arm in vitro study benchmarks the DAO + catalase formula against DAO-only supplements on the market, with 60,000 HDU as the reference dose. HDU, histamine degrading units, is the industry's measure of DAO activity.
Conditions
Simulated intestinal fluid, pH 6.8, 37 °C, per the US Pharmacopeia (USP) method
Time points
0, 15, 30, 60, 120 and 180 minutes, the realistic small-intestine transit window
Measured
Histamine remaining, hydrogen peroxide accumulated, and residual DAO activity, in every arm, at every time point.
Result 1 · the k factor
How many times more histamine DAO degrades when catalase is present, at the same HDU dose.
Result 2 · equivalent dose
The lowest EquiHista® dose that matches 60,000 HDU of DAO alone at 120 minutes.
Interactive simulator
Enter any DAO supplement on the market from its label and run it against EquiHista®, the patented DAO + catalase tablet, on the same histamine-rich meal. The comparison rests on declared DAO activity (HDU), so it holds whatever the competitor's DAO source, format or other ingredients. The model tracks how much histamine each one degrades before its DAO is worn out by the hydrogen peroxide it produces.
mg left in the gut
% of the dose still working
Histamine degraded (mg) by the same number of capsules or tablets of each
Model, not clinical data. Competitor figures are whatever you enter from its label. The model counts only the DAO activity the label declares in HDU; the competitor's DAO source, coating and other ingredients enter only through the share of DAO reaching the intestine active, set by you. Kinetics: DAO with oxygen dependence, catalase removal of hydrogen peroxide, DAO inactivation by peroxide, 200 mL gut volume and the oxygen level set above. In the colon there is almost no oxygen, so DAO hardly works and survives for that reason, with or without catalase. Constants are illustrative until the February to March 2027 study replaces them with bench data.
The product
EquiHista® will come as a finished, patent-protected tablet in a retail bottle, or be licensed to a partner to take to pharmacies, retail and direct-to-consumer channels under a licence or supply agreement.
Open for partnership
Histapharm is reviewing partnership proposals for EquiHista®: licensing, supply and co-development, by territory or worldwide. A full acquisition of the asset will also be considered, at the right valuation.
Mike Baron, VP, Business Development & Co-Founder · Histapharm Inc., Longueuil, Quebec, Canada