GeNeuro SA announced the recruitment of first patients in its Phase 2 trial evaluating temelimab against long-COVID at the Geneva University Hospitals post-COVID clinic (lead centre), as well as in all the other Swiss clinical centres participating to the study, i.e., Inselspital in Bern, REHAB Basel, Kantonsspital Graubünden in Chur and the Centre Hospitalier du Valais Romand in Sion (for more information, please refer to clinical trials.gov or to GeNeuro's web site). The expression of the pathogenic W-ENV protein triggered by the SARS-CoV-2 infection, continuing long after the acute phase has been resolved, is suspected to have a major role in the persistence of inflammation in many long-COVID patients, and may explain many of the nervous system disorders that patients experience, such as cognitive losses and fatigue. The 6-month multicentre personalized medicine trial will recruit 200 patients who are positive for the presence of the pathogenic W-ENV protein in their blood.

The trial will evaluate temelimab, the anti-W-ENV antibody developed by GeNeuro, as a Disease Modifying Therapy in long-COVID patients suffering from concentration or fatigue problems. It will assess the efficacy of the treatment with temelimab over 6 months on improvement in cognitive impairment or fatigue. Long-COVID has become a major public-health concern worldwide, affecting millions of individuals. While most patients recover over time, there is a part of the population whose symptoms remain severe and are deeply affected in their quality of life and ability to work.

In the US alone, the Brookings Institution estimates that around 16 million working-age Americans likely have long-COVID today, of which as many as 4 million workers are likely out of work due to this disease.