The Full Story in One Minute
Taking on Long COVID
"The $3.5 Trillion Challenge"
"No Man's Land" -
Emerging Pathophysiology
Mission
Our mission is to develop first and best in class gene vectors to program production of natural peptides at the site of tissue injury to prevent and treat acute and long-term complications of COVID, surgery and burn injuries.
Vision
Our vision is to work hand in hand with patients with unmet needs, world leading experts in the industry, academia and government to deliver cost effective solutions targeting root causes of tissue njuriy and scarring.
Targeting Root Causes
of Tissue Damage
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Long COVID is emerging as a problem of enormous proportions, affecting some 10-20 percent of all patients testing positive for COVID. Most common (40-60 percent) symptoms are fatigues, muscle ache, physical slowing down, poor sleep, breathlessness, joint pain/swelling, brain fog, short term memory loss. Only 25-30 percent may have had full recovery at the end of 5 and 12 months follow up. (1).
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In another study with 2 years follow-up, it was noted that cognitive symptoms such as "brain-fog" and memory problems showed evidence of increased occurrence during the long-term monitoring (2).
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David Cutler, Professor of economics at Harvard, has recently referred to the "$3.5Trillion challenge based on calculations factoring in lost earnings, medical care, and quality of life (3).
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There are currently no effective treatments or documented drugspreventions.
Cellastra is developing Virlexa targeting emerging root causes of Long COVID.
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Further Reading and video:
https://abcnews.go.com/Health/mans-land-long-covid-knocks-young-workers-job/story?id=89064127
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References:
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1. Cutler, David M. 2022. “The Costs of Long COVID.” JAMA Health Forum 3 (5): e221809– e221809. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamahealthforum.2022.1809.
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2. Evans, R A, O C Leavy, M Richardson, O Elneima, H J C McAuley, A Shikotra, A Singapuri, et al. 2022. “Clinical Characteristics with Inflammation Profiling of Long COVID and Association with 1-Year Recovery Following Hospitalisation in the UK: A Prospective Observational Study.” The Lancet Respiratory Medicine 10 (8): 761–75. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2213-2600(22)00127-8.
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3. Taquet, Maxime, Rebecca Sillett, Lena Zhu, Jacob Mendel, Isabella Camplisson, Quentin Dercon, and Paul J Harrison. 2022. “Neurological and Psychiatric Risk Trajectories after SARS-CoV-2 Infection: An Analysis of 2-Year Retrospective Cohort Studies Including 1,284,437 Patients.” The Lancet Psychiatry, August. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(22)00260-7.
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