Long Covid research funding at NIH gets a nearly 50% boost

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration has dedicated an additional $515 million to a major initiative to study long Covid, a nearly 50% increase to the project’s budget.

The research initiative at the National Institutes of Health, dubbed RECOVER, was created in 2020 with a $1.15 billion investment in research to understand and investigate treatments for long Covid.

The project has faced headwinds: STAT and MuckRock investigations showed that the project started off very sluggishly, and timelines slipped repeatedly. Patients also expressed strong concerns that too few resources were being devoted to testing potential treatments. At the time, the government said it did not have any more money to devote to the work.

The NIH said that the funding would be used to test additional treatments in clinical trials, to study how long Covid affects each part of the body, to examine who fully recovers long term, and to maintain research infrastructure.

“NIH expects this investment of time and resources in building a research program of this scale, scope and rigor will increase the odds in finding treatments that work,” the agency said in its announcement.

Reactions from patient advocates and experts who have been critical of the initiative have been mixed. While they are glad to see more research funding, concerns about transparency and accountability remain.

MEAction Network Director of Scientific and Medical Outreach Jaime Seltzer said while she is happy about the NIH prioritizing of long Covid, she remains worried about the agency’s commitment, as the funding only extends until 2028.

“I’m concerned about … whether the funding will continue, and whether it’s enough,” she said.

Lauren Stiles, a patient advocate and President and CEO of Dysautonomia International who has served on several RECOVER committees, expressed a similar sentiment.

“We’re glad to see long Covid is getting more federal research funding. But we still have concerns about RECOVER’s accountability, meaningful engagement of patients, and what the funding will actually be used for,” Stiles said.

Michael Peluso, an assistant professor at the University of California, San Francisco, and one of the investigators in RECOVER, said in an email that the announcement is welcome news and “a step in the right direction.” He added he’s looking forward to more information about how the money will be used, but also cautioned that even more funding would be needed to meet the scope and scale of long Covid and related illnesses.

The funding is from the Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund, the Department of Health and Human Services said. That account received huge infusions of cash from Covid-19 relief legislation, and $200 million of the total is usable through fiscal year 2025. The remainder is usable through 2028.

HHS said in a written statement to STAT that the NIH is carrying out services related to what the funding was intended for.

Some patient advocates have called for a “Long Covid Moonshot” akin to the president’s ongoing “cancer moonshot” efforts. They want at least $1 billion a year in sustained research funding.