Phototherapy treatment for long-term COVID-19 patients

Introduction

As the number of COVID-19 cases grows worldwide, so does the number of those suffering from clinical parameters that last weeks to months post-initial recovery, termed long-COVID. Recent studies indicate that as much as 36.55% of survivors exhibit long-lasting symptoms (e.g., weight loss, chest pain, cognitive and memory disorders, breathlessness), resulting in an estimated ~157 million long-COVID adult patients worldwide to date. Clearly, this growing health problem represents a modern global medical challenge.

Knowledge Gap

This challenge is compounded by a knowledge gap regarding the causes and prevalence of long-COVID, leaving no effective treatments. As noted by The Lancet: “The scientific and medical communities must collaborate … and find effective treatments.”

Proposed Solution

Based on findings from my ERC grant, supported by other COVID-related reports, I propose to validate a UVB radiation (phototherapy) protocol for the treatment of long-COVID patients. Our findings indicate that phototherapy induces an immunological shift that counters that of the COVID phenotype:

1. From T helper (Th) 1 cells, which stimulate inflammation and cell-mediated immunity,
2. To Th2 cells, which promote humoral immunity.

Expected Outcomes

Phototherapy is also expected to address a range of reported respiratory, cardiovascular, neurological, endocrine, and metabolic long-COVID symptoms.

Clinical Trial and Collaboration

Our PoC entails both validating the proposed treatment via a clinical trial, through a strong collaborative framework with Maccabi Healthcare Services, Israel’s second largest HMO, and conducting pre-commercialization steps to enable quick, easy dissemination on the global stage.

Value Proposition

Taken together, our value proposition is an effective, non-invasive, simple long-COVID treatment that can be implemented through already established phototherapy clinics worldwide. This approach offers immediate relief to long-COVID patients while simultaneously reducing the health and financial burden of severely overburdened health systems.