A new nonprofit \u201cstartup\u201d is emerging from stealth today with $15 million in funding from Ethereum co-creator Vitalik Buterin, with a focus squarely on studying and treating Long COVID.<\/p>\n
While the global pandemic may have neared something close to a conclusion for many, millions of people around the world are still suffering long-term effects from COVID-19. Studies suggest that anywhere between 20% and 40% of those who have contracted COVID-19 experience at least some longstanding symptoms, ranging from mild fatigue and \u201cbrain fog,\u201d to more serious debilitating conditions such as headaches, sickness, muscle weakness, and respiratory problems.<\/p>\n
The truth of the matter is that we simply don\u2019t know enough about Long COVID and how best to treat it, which is where the Long Covid Research Initiative (LCRI) is looking to make its mark.<\/p>\n
LCRI is spearheaded by a quartet of founders, one of which is Dr. Amy Proal<\/a>, a prominent microbiologist at the Polybio Research Foundation with more than 10 years experience studying conditions similar to Long COVID \u2014 Proal has herself been an ME\/CFS (chronic fatigue syndrome) patient, which is similar to Long COVID, for nearly 20 years. Proal is accompanied by Henry Scott-Green, a London-based product manager who has been absent from his day job at Google\u2019s YouTube for the past two years due to Long COVID; Helga Gutmane, previously an investor at KKR; and Nick Harrold, a former SaaS startup founder.<\/p>\n Scott-Green first contracted COVID in August 2020, and the symptoms he experienced in the months and years that followed include what he calls \u201ccrushing fatigue\u201d and brain fog. \u201cI\u2019ve improved significantly over the past year thanks to a variety of treatments \u2014 at my worst, I was very seriously unwell and unable to do even basic tasks,\u201d he explained to .<\/p>\n But it was his experiences trying to treat his condition, including working with health professionals, that led him down the path to where he\u2019s at today \u2014 though he feels he has been more fortunate than some other Long COVID sufferers.<\/p>\n \u201cTwo years ago, very few people \u2014 doctors included \u2014 knew about Long COVID, and it was hard to even get a diagnosis,\u201d Scott-Green said. \u201cI have been lucky to eventually make my way to great specialists who have helped me a lot, but many people aren\u2019t so lucky. Getting good quality care is still a huge problem for the vast majority of the huge number of people with this condition.\u201d<\/p>\n Though LCRI is being led substantively from the U.K., officially it belongs to the U.S.-based PolyBio Research Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that focuses on studying complex chronic inflammatory diseases. Despite its nonprofit status, the LCRI founders\u2019 tech backgrounds could serve as the bedrock for something more like a \u201clean\u201d startup, and solve what Scott-Green calls the \u201cglobal public health emergency\u201d that is Long COVID.<\/p>\n Indeed, as well-intentioned and rigorous as some of the government-led funding programs and initiatives have been, Scott-Green said that from his experience, things just move far too slowly, which is why LCRI is adopting an operating model more akin to the \u201curgency and pragmatism\u201d of a startup.<\/p>\n \u201cA Long COVID research program reliant only on government grants would take a long time to show results,\u201d he said. \u201cAs a patient, I recognized the need to move faster and bring rapid answers to the enormous number of people who are suffering around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n To support his mission, the founders have amassed an impressive team of researchers and specialists from Harvard, Stanford, Yale, UCSF, John Hopkins University, among other renowned institutions, philanthropists, and patient communities, who will work together with a view toward solving Long COVID.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re running as a lean organization that prioritizes fast execution and close collaboration \u2014 and generally, and where it makes sense, trying to apply the organizational principles that have allowed tech to deliver big, ambitious projects quickly,\u201d Scott-Green said. \u201cThis has allowed us to bring together a team of the world\u2019s best researchers to work collaboratively in a model that isn\u2019t that common, on a mission to solve a disease, and executing a shared research roadmap that addresses the most pressing questions in the space.\u201d<\/p>\n LCRI\u2019s Henry Scott-Green<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The remote, collaborative nature of LCRI \u2014 none of the founding team have met in person \u2014 essentially makes it a virtual research institute. And it plans to adopt a two-pronged approach to achieving its mission, spanning research and therapeutics.<\/p>\n For the initial research phase, scientists from some of the world\u2019s most esteemed institutions will share their collective expertise and study the disease mechanisms that constitute Long COVID, while follow-on clinical trials will strive to put the research program\u2019s findings into real-world treatments.<\/p>\n None of this comes for free, of course, which is where today\u2019s funding announcement comes into play. Buterin, better known as one of the creators of the Ethereum blockchain, is investing around $15 million in USDC\u00a0stablecoin via the $100 million Balvi fund, which he set up earlier this year<\/a> specifically for COVID research projects. Additionally, LCRI has secured commitments from the Chan Soon-Shiong Family Foundation (CSSFF), a charitable body led by surgeon, scientist, and billionaire businessman Patrick Soon-Shiong with his philanthropist wife Michele B. Chan.<\/p>\n \u201cBalvi and Vitalik reached out to Amy to ask about supporting her research projects, and the partnership grew from there,\u201d Scott-Green said. \u201cCSSFF has made commitments to donate with a minimum, but we\u2019re still discussing the final amount.\u201d<\/p>\n While $15 million gives LCRI a decent start, it likely won\u2019t be enough for the long haul, which is why it\u2019s targeting some $100 million in funding in the coming years \u2014 with plans to eventually expand its model to related conditions such as Epstein-Barr virus and enteroviruses. But first, they need to get to grips with Long COVID.<\/p>\n \u201cIn one to two years, we want to have raised substantially more funding for Long COVID research and have extensive research and clinical trials programs underway,\u201d Scott-Green continued. \u201cWe will have our first results from the research program, and we will be able to use those results to inform our clinical trials efforts. Our sole focus is on finding answers for the people who are suffering with Long COVID, and our goals are to understand the disease mechanisms, and identify treatment options.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\nMove fast and fix things<\/h2>\n
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<\/p>\nA virtual research institute<\/h2>\n