- A large prospective cohort study published in Infectious Diseases found that a majority of people with Long COVID did not recover. Of the 3,590 individuals with Long COVID included in the U.K. study, only around 33% achieved “satisfactory recovery.” Still, the study did not account for reinfections, and other studies have found an even slimmer recovery rate of only 6–9% in the first 2–3 years. The authors concluded that people with Long COVID in their cohort had significant and prolonged functional impairment, and that a majority are “of working age.”
- Some researchers in Australia are getting a small boost in Long COVID funding. Three projects at the University of New South Wales won grants totalling $4.7 million AUD ($3.3 million USD) to study the disease and improve patient care. One of those projects is the SAGE Trial, which aims to educate primary care providers about Long COVID, while other funding will support diagnostic and clinical research. In addition, a professor at Melbourne’s La Trobe University received $1 million AUD ($697,000 USD) in funding for the CRISP Project to study biomarkers for the disease linked to “food and drink sensitivity.”
- The biotech company Invivyd is advancing research of a COVID-19 monoclonal antibody called VYD2311, designed to improve upon the currently-available Pemgarda. A phase three clinical trial testing the product’s ability to prevent acute COVID-19 is currently recruiting in 20 locations across 16 states. And the company announced last week that it has planned a phase two trial of the drug for treating Long COVID and Post-COVID Vaccine Syndrome, expected to start “by mid-2026.” Researchers previously discussed this potential trial at a National Institutes of Health workshop last fall, but it is proceeding without NIH funding.
