Western University researchers are taking a unique global approach to finding an effective treatment for people living with long COVID.
Led by Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry professor Douglas Fraser, the projects represent the first multi-continental research conducted on long COVID, with study sites in Africa and North and South Americas.
The long-term effects of long COVID - including symptoms such as brain fog, fatigue and difficulty breathing - can be debilitating and greatly impact quality of life. At least 65 million people around the world are affected by the condition.
The first project aims to identify the patient subtypes - clusters of people with long COVID grouped by shared characteristics - and biological mechanisms of this chronic condition, to help understand why some people are more susceptible to developing long COVID. Studying the condition in different countries helps to understand geographical variation.
Dr. Douglas Fraser
"We have seen that although long COVID is found globally, patients' reported symptoms often differ depending on where they live," said Fraser, professor in the department of paediatrics at Schulich Medicine & Dentistry and physician at London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC). "This underscores the importance of conducting a global study to better understand the differences and similarities in disease manifestations."
A second project will look to find an existing drug that can be repurposed as an effective treatment. The drug targets will be uncovered by integrating the clinical and biological similarities common to all long COVID patients, no matter their geographical regions. A major goal of this work is to provide low-cost drug interventions globally.
Both projects are supported by grants from the Schmidt Initiative for Long COVID (SILC), a nonprofit organization founded in 2023 by Eric and Wendy Schmidt to advance clinical care for long COVID patients globally. The organization works to raise the level of long COVID care and understanding around the world, connecting specialists and primary care providers to support patients and share knowledge virtually, in real time.
Fraser and his team, including Mark Daley, Schulich Medicine & Dentistry and computer science professor and Western's Chief AI Officer, and kinesiology professor Kevin Shoemaker, recently wrapped up their first project identifying patient subtypes and biological signatures. Those are characteristics that can be integrated and measured, such as cell types and composition. Their research indicates which long COVID patients are likely to respond to specific drug interventions.
Expediting discovery of long COVID treatment
Researchers will now begin a global interventional clinical trial with repurposed drugs that have already been approved by regulatory agencies and are available on the market to target the key signaling pathways related to long COVID - a series of chemical reactions that control the function of cells - identified in the previous project. This would mean a treatment option could be readily available to people worldwide living with this debilitating illness.
The international clinical trial will involve 1,200 patients who have been diagnosed with long COVID and participants will be assigned a repurposed drug or a placebo for the study. The researchers will then look at the symptoms, quality-of-life measures and biomarker analysis.
"Repurposing existing drugs would help rapidly address the urgent medical needs of long COVID patients and could reduce health-care costs associated with prolonged disability," said Fraser.
