News Category: Partner News

Scripps Research scientists launch new digital clinical trial to test repurposed drug for long COVID symptom relief

Study will investigate whether a GIP/GLP-1 dual receptor agonist, currently approved for type 2 diabetes, obesity and obstructive sleep apnea, can reduce symptoms of long COVID.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Oct. 30, 2025

Contact:
press@scripps.edu

LA JOLLA, Calif.—Scientists at the Scripps Research Translational Institute invite people with long COVID across the U.S. to join a remote clinical trial that is testing whether an existing FDA-approved therapy, tirzepatide, can provide relief from long COVID symptoms.

The Long COVID Treatment Trial (LoCITT, pronounced ‘lock-it’) is a novel research platform funded by the Schmidt Initiative for Long Covid (SILC) as part of its grant to support the tirzepatide trial. LoCITT is dedicated to accelerating discoveries for the complex, multisystem condition which has affected the lives of more than 400 million people worldwide. There are currently no FDA-approved drugs for the treatment of long COVID.

Tirzepatide, a GIP/GLP-1 dual receptor agonist, is currently approved for type 2 diabetes, overweight and obesity, and obstructive sleep apnea. The initial trial will explore whether the drug’s anti-inflammatory effects can improve symptoms in people with long COVID. 

LoCITT’s remote clinical trial technology will allow for swift screening, enrollment and randomization of patients. Drugs and placebos will be mailed directly to the participant’s home, and participants will also use wearable devices and smart scales so scientists can track real-time health changes and measure the drug’s impact on symptoms. 

“We’re seeing GLP-1 drugs show tremendous promise across a wide range of conditions, including improving markers of body-wide and brain inflammation, which is common in long COVID,” says Eric Topol, executive vice president of Scripps Research and co-principal investigator of LoCITT. “Given the urgency of finding an effective treatment for long COVID, it’s critical that we test the most promising agent—tirzepatide is at the top of our list.”

Long COVID is marked by a wide range of symptoms that develop and continue months and even years after an acute COVID-19 infection. It can affect multiple organ systems, including respiratory, cardiovascular, neurological, musculoskeletal and immunological, with the constellation of more than 200 possible symptoms varying from person to person and commonly including debilitating fatigue. How long COVID presents in patients—and the lack of a biomarker to effectively detect it—adds to the difficulty in diagnosing and treating the condition.

“Drug repurposing represents the fastest potential path to treatment for long COVID,” says John Redd, CEO of SILC. “Combining that with safety monitoring, at-home clinical trial participation makes this a particularly promising trial and a model for future studies of complex diseases.”

Scripps Research scientists seek to enroll 1,000 trial participants from across the U.S. in a fully remote, randomized control trial to study the effect of tirzepatide on long COVID over the course of one year. Participants will use the MyDataHelps app to check their eligibility, provide consent, complete surveys, order research materials and receive compensation for participating in the study. Participants will be randomized into an intervention arm of individuals who will receive tirzepatide or a control arm of those who will receive a placebo. All participants will also receive a Garmin fitness tracker and smart scale so physiological data can be shared, and both devices may be kept after the study is complete. Fifty participants will be selected as part of an at-home blood sampling cohort for exploratory biomarker analysis and clinical testing. The LoCITT study team will be available to answer questions and provide support via email, phone and video visits.

“There is an urgent need for validated treatments for long COVID,” says Julia Moore Vogel, co-principal investigator of LoCITT. “For many individuals who are housebound or bedbound, traveling to a clinic is harmful or impossible, which is why we have designed this study to be accessible from home. Our approach seeks to lower barriers for participation in recognition of the meaningful contributions people with long COVID make through their time and energy.”

LoCITT is open to individuals 18 years of age or older, who live in the U.S., have medical documentation of long COVID and meet other inclusion criteria. The platform will be used to test additional interventions in the near future. For more details regarding LoCITT, including how to participate in this or subsequent trials, please visit https://longcovid.scripps.edu/.

The study team will host a webinar on November 5, 2025, 11 a.m. PT/2 p.m. ET to provide an overview of the trial and participant journey. Registration is required.

In addition to Scripps Research and SILC, LoCITT collaborator organizations include CareEvolution, Adachi-Odai Solutions, Garmin, YourBio Health, Infinity Bio Inc. and Olink. Eli Lilly and Company is providing the study medicine.

Scripps Research performs scientific investigation and drug discovery only. We cannot provide medical advice. 

About Scripps Research

Scripps Research is an independent, nonprofit biomedical research institute ranked one of the most influential in the world for its impact on innovation by Nature Index. We are advancing human health through profound discoveries that address pressing medical concerns around the globe. Our drug discovery and development division, Calibr-Skaggs, works hand-in-hand with scientists across disciplines to bring new medicines to patients as quickly and efficiently as possible, while teams at Scripps Research Translational Institute harness genomics, digital medicine and cutting-edge informatics to understand individual health and render more effective healthcare. Scripps Research also trains the next generation of leading scientists at our Skaggs Graduate School, consistently named among the top 10 U.S. programs for chemistry and biological sciences. Learn more at www.scripps.edu.

About the Schmidt Initiative for Long Covid

The Schmidt Initiative for Long Covid (SILC) advances clinical care for Long Covid patients globally. The nonprofit organization, founded in 2023 by philanthropists Eric and Wendy Schmidt, 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. For more information, visit silc.org.

Long Covid patients can sign up for remote clinical trial notification

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 29, 2025

Contact:
CareEvolution
pr@careevolution.com
Swati Pandey, SILC
spandey@silc.org
Anna Andersen, Scripps Research
aanders@scripps.edu

ANN ARBOR, Mich.—Long Covid patients around the U.S. looking to participate in a clinical trial from home can sign up to be notified when an upcoming study conducted by scientists at Scripps Research and supported by the Schmidt Initiative for Long Covid (SILC) opens. Patients can sign up on the Long Covid Treatment Trial (LoCITT) website.

The upcoming study, powered by the MyDataHelps platform from CareEvolution, is a fully remote clinical trial investigating the efficacy of a repurposed drug for treating Long COVID. It will enroll 1,000 Long Covid patients from across the U.S. The app-based study enables participants to enroll and participate in all trial activities without having to visit a trial clinic. 

“Decentralized trials broaden reach, speed timelines and yield richer real-world evidence,” said Vik Kheterpal, MD, a principal at CareEvolution. “LoCITT will help advance how efficiently we can run trials as we seek treatments for complex, heterogeneous conditions like Long Covid.” 

Long Covid, which has affected the lives of 400 million people worldwide and costs the global economy an estimated $1 trillion per year, can often cause symptoms that make mobility and travel challenging for patients who want to participate in trials. The forthcoming Scripps Research-led trial will rely on the LoCITT platform to enroll patients, distribute drug candidates and placebos, as well as collect and evaluate trial data. 

“For people with severe Long Covid, travel can be dangerous,” said Julia Moore Vogel, senior program director at the Scripps Research Translational Institute. “LoCITT enables even patients with the most severe symptoms to join the search for answers.” Moore Vogel is co-principal investigator of the study alongside Scripps Research executive vice president Eric Topol. 

Remote trials, which eliminate the need for patients to report to clinics, enable easier and broader participation. Conducting a Long Covid trial remotely will also allow more representative cohorts—potentially leading to more generalizable findings. 

“We need aggressive, rapid efforts to turn the tide on this very difficult condition for all the patients who struggle with it,” said John Redd, CEO of SILC. “We’re hopeful that a remote trial will help us find effective treatments more quickly.” 

CareEvolution adapted its existing MyDataHelps decentralized clinical trial platform specifically for the LoCITT trial, with the potential for it to be used by other research efforts. The platform will allow for patients to be screened, enrolled and randomized more swiftly. Potential treatments and placebos will be mailed directly to the participant’s home, along with wearable devices and other technologies to collect patient data. 

CareEvolution’s user-friendly platform allows patients to check their eligibility, provide consent electronically and respond to baseline and ongoing surveys about their symptoms. Patients selected for the study will receive wrist devices to monitor their heart rates, activity and sleep, potentially enabling the development of digital biomarkers for Long Covid and related conditions like myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), which can cause debilitating fatigue, and postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), which can cause dizziness, fatigue and a rapid heart rate upon standing up. The data from the devices will be uploaded to LoCITT. 

Prospective participants who are 18 years of age or older and who believe they have Long Covid can sign up at longcovid.scripps.edu to be notified when the Scripps clinical trial opens.  

About CareEvolution
We Connect Healthcare. MyDataHelps®, our digital  clinical trials platform,  accelerates healthcare innovation by empowering researchers to configure and launch studies in hours.  We enable anyone, anywhere to be able to participate in research using participant centric design that integrates surveys, wearable and sensor data, EHR connectivity, and participant engagement tools to generate robust real-world longitudinal data. Trusted by over 2.5 million participants enrolled in longitudinal initiatives sponsored by health systems, academic institutions, life science companies, foundations, and public health agencies, CareEvolution advances precision health and helps close critical gaps in our collective understanding  of  complex conditions. For more information please visit careevolution.com.

About the Schmidt Initiative for Long Covid
The Schmidt Initiative for Long Covid (SILC) advances clinical care for Long Covid patients globally. The nonprofit organization, founded in 2023 by philanthropists Eric and Wendy Schmidt, 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. For more information, visit https://silc.org/.

About Scripps Research
Scripps Research is an independent, nonprofit biomedical institute ranked one of the most influential in the world for its impact on innovation by Nature Index. We are advancing human health through profound discoveries that address pressing medical concerns around the globe. Our drug discovery and development division, Calibr-Skaggs, works hand-in-hand with scientists across disciplines to bring new medicines to patients as quickly and efficiently as possible, while teams at Scripps Research Translational Institute harness genomics, digital medicine and cutting-edge informatics to understand individual health and render more effective healthcare. Scripps Research also trains the next generation of leading scientists at our Skaggs Graduate School, consistently named among the top 10 US programs for chemistry and biological sciences. Learn more at www.scripps.edu.

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