The shot heard round the peanut gallery

Those allergic to peanuts fear not! The peanut allergy shot is a mere three years away from an allergist near you.

The monthly shots are not a cure. But doctors believe the still-experimental drug should let people avoid severe complications if they unknowingly eat one or two peanuts, the typical accidental exposure.

However, the drug is a few years away from going on the market. Its critical third round of tests has been stalled by legal infighting among the three companies with rights to it.

And Dr. Hugh A. Sampson of Mount Sinai Medical School in New York said patients would need lifelong monthly shots of the drug, called TNX-901, and still would have to guard against eating peanuts.