New Delhi, May 3
US scientists are undertaking a clinical trial to decode the efficacy of a long-acting antibody against Long Covid -- a condition that affects at least 65 million people worldwide.
Long Covid affects people after an infection caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The condition not properly defined yet presents with more than 200 symptoms.
The team from the Nova Southeastern University (NSU) and the Schmidt Initiative for Long Covid (SILC) announced that a clinical trial is underway to assess the effectiveness and safety of sipavibart -- a long-acting monoclonal antibody designed by British drugmaker AstraZeneca’s to protect the condition.
The team enrolled 100 patients in the multi-year research, reviewed and cleared by the FDA earlier this year. It aims to improve patients Long Covid symptoms and restore them to full health.
“Like many multi-symptom, post-viral conditions, Long Covid is incredibly complicated and thus little understood,” said Nancy Klimas, director of the Institute for Neuro-lmmune Medicine at NSU.
“Finding a treatment will be life-changing for patients suffering from the myriad symptoms of Long Covid,” she added.