The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently announced two major initiatives to shed light on long COVID, a condition affecting millions. First, the agency plans to establish the Office of Long COVID Research and Practice. HHS is also set to launch new long COVID-19 clinical trials through its RECOVER initiative. Jointly, the long COVID drug development efforts highlight the need for therapies and create openings for pharmaceutical companies to drive research and drug development related to the condition.
HHS has earmarked $1.15 billion for the RECOVER Initiative to explore novel therapies for the condition estimated to have affected between 7.7 and 23 million Americans. To date, the RECOVER Initiative has enrolled more than 24,000 participants in observational studies on long COVID. New clinical trials, beginning enrollment in summer 2023, will test experimental therapies across five focus areas to identify therapies that can alleviate symptoms and…