Repurposed Drugs Show Limited Efficacy for Long-COVID Fatigue in Phase 3 Trial

Findings from the Phase 3 STIMULATE-ICP trial, presented at ESCMID Global 2026, indicate that while specialist supportive care improved severe fatigue in long COVID patients, several repurposed medications (colchicine, famotidine plus loratadine, rivaroxaban) provided only small, non-persistent additional benefits. Researchers suggest future studies should focus on identifying underlying biological drivers for more targeted treatments.