Testing treatments for long COVID, a collaborative clinical trial

HEAL APT: Harnessing effective approaches for long COVID therapies through an adaptive platform trial.

More than half a million Australians have been affected by long-term symptoms after infection with COVID-19. This chronic condition is commonly known as long COVID. People live with symptoms ranging from fatigue to ‘brain fog’ and loss of smell. While hundreds of thousands of Australians remain affected, there are still no proven treatments and there is no known long COVID cure.

Through the Medical Research Future Fund, the Australian Government has allocated funding to address this problem, and Burnet is one of 3 research institutions awarded a stage 1 incubator grant to prepare for this trial.

The Incubator Grant focuses on establishing partnerships with the University of Melbourne and Bond University to determine the capability of developing a collaborative national adaptive platform clinical trial to rapidly assess the effectiveness of pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions for people with long COVID.

In collaboration with our key research partners, the University of Melbourne and Bond University, we have designed an evidence-based trial, with key input from a lived experience advisory group, to assess long COVID therapies. Several teams have been formed within the research partnership to carry out key pieces of work. These include:

a large evidence synthesis team to collate and review relevant scientific literature to guide the prioritisation of potential treatments for long COVID
a comprehensive lived experience community advisory group with representation from key priority populations to strengthen our capacity for meaningful community engagement.

These activities have ensured that the trial design will focus on the most promising interventions and deliver results via an efficient and sustainable infrastructure.

Community impact

This project lays the groundwork to pioneer Australia’s response to long COVID. By combining evidence-based research, technological innovation, and multi-disciplinary and lived experience and community collaboration, this project sets the stage for a transformative approach to long COVID care in Australia.

The project has the potential to return thousands of Australians suffering from the effects of long COVID to greater, if not full, health. As well as increase trial capacity in Australia, positioning Australia as a global leader in innovative and impactful long COVID research.