- Reuters reported that two patients found relief from long COVID after taking Pfizer Inc's (NYSE:PFE) antiviral Paxlovid, including a researcher who tested it on herself.
- Long COVID is estimated to affect up to 30% of people infected with the coronavirus. It can last for months.
- More than 200 symptoms have been associated with the condition, including pain, fatigue, brain fog, breathing difficulty, and exhaustion.
- "This provides really strong evidence that we need to be studying antiviral therapy in this context as soon as possible," said Steven Deeks, a professor of medicine at the University of California.
- Also See: Drugmakers, Scientists Working For Long COVID Treatments.
- Scientists caution that these cases are "hypothesis-generating only" and not proof that the drug caused relief of lingering symptoms.
- The best evidence comes from a National Institutes of Health (NIH) study, currently under peer review. Researchers conducted autopsies on 44 people who died of COVID-19 or another cause but were infected with COVID.
- They found widespread infection throughout the body, including in the brain, that can last more than seven months beyond the onset of symptoms.
- Pfizer spokesman Kit Longley said the company does not have any long COVID studies underway and did not comment on whether it would consider them.
- Read Next: Pfizer's COVID-19 Oral Therapy To Be Tested In Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients In UK.
- The drug giant has two large clinical trials testing whether Paxlovid can prevent initial COVID infection. That "may provide us with relevant data to help inform future studies," Longley said.
- Price Action: PFE shares are down 2.60% at $51.74 during the market session on the last check Monday.
- Photo by Diamond Rehab Thailand via Pixaby
