COVID-19 antiviral isn't effective for treating Long Covid

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2024-06-08 05:00

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Ritonavir-Boosted Nirmatrelvir, a COVID-19 antiviral treatment sold as Paxlovid and used in Australia for acute COVID-19, does not appear to be effective for treating Long Covid symptoms, according to an international trial. 155 predominantly vaccinated participants were recruited, all of whom had Long Covid symptoms lasting at least three months. Two-thirds of the participants were given a two-week course of Paxlovid while the other third were given a non-active placebo treatment. Monitoring various Long Covid symptoms, the researchers say there were no improvements in symptom severity for those taking Paxlovid relative to the placebo group, suggesting that while the drug is safe, it likely isn't worth using as a Long Covid treatment.

News release

From: JAMA

About The Study: The results of this randomized clinical trial showed that a 15-day course of nirmatrelvir-ritonavir in a population of patients with postacute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC) was generally safe but did not demonstrate a significant benefit for improving select PASC symptoms in a mostly vaccinated cohort with protracted symptom duration. Further studies are needed to determine the role of antivirals in the treatment of PASC.

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Journal/
conference: JAMA Internal Medicine

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: Stanford Medicine, USA

Funder: This study was funded by Pfizer Inc. The Stanford Quantitative Sciences Unit was partially supported by the NIH (grant UL1 TR003142). The Stanford REDCap platform, which was used to conduct the study’s prescreening survey was developed and is operated by the Stanford Medicine Research IT team and is subsidized by the Stanford School of Medicine Research Office, and the NIH’s National Center for Research Resources and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (UL1 TR001085). The Stanford Clinical and Translational Research Unit is supported by the Stanford CTSA Award from the NIH’s National Center for Advancing Translational Science (NIH-NCATS-CTSA grant 5UL1TR003142).

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