29 Jun Fauci: Long COVID-19 trial endpoints ‘absolutely have to be standardized’

Clinical Trials Arena asks Dr Anthony Fauci about the biggest challenges to selecting long Covid-19 trial endpoints during a National Press Foundation Q&A.

By William Newton, Clinical Trials Arena

Long Covid-19 affects as many as one in five people who previously had an acute Covid-19 infection. But a constellation of distinct symptoms—ranging from breathing problems to brain fog—makes designing clinical trials a steep challenge.

The solution will be finding common symptom denominators based on a deeper understanding of long Covid-19’s underlying pathogenesis, explains Dr Anthony Fauci, Chief Medical Advisor to the US President, at a National Press Foundation Q&A attended by Clinical Trials Arena. “Endpoints absolutely have to be standardised,” he says.

Currently, the largest common denominators of Covid-19 symptoms appear to be exercise-induced exhaustion and fatigue, Fauci notes. Symptoms with a greater variation include temperature dysregulation, dysautonomia, sleep disturbances, and mental cognitive problems, also known as brain fog, he adds. Read more …