The National Institutes of Health announced plans to test at least four different treatments for long COVID, including Pfizer’s Paxlovid, as potential therapies for the lasting condition, according to a July 31 news release.
The phase 2 trial is now open for enrollment and participants will be exposed to therapies including drugs, biologics, medical devices and more, according to the release.
The trial will likely have between 100 and 300 participants and will focus on testing specific safety and effectiveness of the proposed treatments.
"We know that when patients are suffering, we can never move fast enough," Lawrence Tabak, DDS, PhD, NIH Director said in a statement. "NIH is committed to a highly coordinated and scientifically rigorous approach to find treatments that will provide relief for the millions of people living with long COVID."
Testing multiple forms of long COVID therapies will allow experts to see which work better for individuals with certain lasting symptoms.
In addition to Paxlovid, other interventions being tested will include a web-based brain training program called BrainHQ, developed by Posit Science Corp. in San Francisco, the PASC-Cognitive Recovery, a web-based goal management training program, developed by Mount Sinai Health System in New York City; and a transcranial direct current stimulation machine developed by Soterix Medical in Woodbridge, N.J.
In addition to the phase 2 trial, the U.S. HHS also announced the formation of the Office of Long COVID Research and Practice in a July 31 news release.