Spanning four continents and enrolling hundreds of people, a new clinical trial will test the effectiveness of two anti-inflammatory medicines as potential treatments for long COVID, scientists from Western University and the Schmidt Initiative for Long Covid (SILC) announced today.
By University of Western Ontario
Summary
- A new clinical trial, spanning four continents, will test two anti-inflammatory medicines for treating long COVID.
- The trial is led by scientists from Western University and the Schmidt Initiative for Long Covid (SILC).
- Long COVID symptoms vary globally, and this study is tailored to address patients' most severe symptoms.
- The medicines being tested are:
Upadacitinib (approved for arthritis)
Pirfenidone (approved for lung disease) - These drugs were selected through an AI-driven SILC-funded study that analysed 5,400 blood proteins from 1,028 people and identified 13 biological pathways related to long COVID.
- Both drugs may interrupt several of these pathways, making them strong candidates for repurposing.
Extracts
The trial, funded by SILC, will examine whether upadacitinib and pirfenidone-approved for treating arthritis and lung disease, respectively–-can be repurposed to reduce or eliminate symptoms of long COVID. The drugs were identified by an earlier SILC-funded study that, over the past 18 months, examined over 5,400 blood proteins from 1,028 participants with and without long COVID found 13 common biological pathways for the progression of the disease. Upadacitinib and pirfenidone were identified using artificial intelligence as two existing drugs that could interrupt several of those pathways.
Drug repurposing has the potential to bring effective treatments to long COVID patients worldwide far more quickly than creating a new medicine from scratch. Our hope is that the 65 million people living each day with this often debilitating condition will soon find relief for their symptoms-no matter where in the world they happen to live.
Dr. John Redd, CEO of SILC
MEA Comment
As with ME/CFS, there is research evidence of immune system activation and consequent low level neuroinflammation (inflammation involving the brain and nervous system) in Long Covid.
So drugs that are already being used to treat inflammatory conditions like arthritis are worth assessing as possible treatments for both Long Covid and ME/CFS.
In the case of ME/CFS some small clinical trails have failed to demonstrate any significant benefit.
With Long Covid, there are various clinical trials taking place, including this one, and one at the University of Leicester involves a drug called tocilizumab.
So we await the results of these trials with interest and if it can be shown that powerful anti-inflammatory drugs are an effective treatment for Long Covid then further assessment in ME/CFS would be worthwhile.
Dr Charles Shepherd,
Trustee and Hon. Medical Adviser to the ME Association,
Member of the 2018-2021 NICE guideline on ME/CFS committee,
Member of the 2002 Chief Medical Officer's Working Group on ME/CFS
