The weight-loss drug revolution just took an unexpected turn. Scripps Research is launching a nationwide trial to test whether Zepbound's active ingredient, tirzepatide, can treat long Covid by targeting the chronic inflammation plaguing millions of patients. With 20 million Americans affected and limited treatment options, researchers are betting on GLP-1 drugs' powerful anti-inflammatory properties to provide relief where traditional medicine has fallen short.
The obesity wonder drug Zepbound is about to get its biggest test yet - not for weight loss, but as a potential breakthrough treatment for long Covid. Scripps Research Translational Institute just launched a nationwide trial recruiting 1,000 patients to test whether tirzepatide, the drug's active ingredient, can tackle the chronic inflammation that defines long Covid.
The timing couldn't be more critical. As many as 20 million Americans are living with long Covid symptoms that can last months or years after their initial infection. Despite the Biden administration's $1.8 billion research investment, effective treatments remain elusive.
"The rationale for a GLP-1 drug is its powerful body-wide and brain anti-inflammatory properties," Eric Topol, director of the Scripps institute sponsoring the trial, tells researchers. It's a bold pivot from the drug's obesity roots, but mounting evidence suggests GLP-1 medications have broad anti-inflammatory effects that go far beyond appetite suppression.
The breakthrough moment came when doctors noticed something unexpected in their practices. David Kaufman, who runs the Center for Complex Diseases in Seattle and Mountain View, started seeing long Covid patients report less fatigue after taking GLP-1s for weight loss. "What it does is it seems to move the needle so patients can become more functional," Kaufman told WIRED.
That anecdotal evidence is now getting the full clinical trial treatment. But this isn't your typical medical study. The Scripps trial is completely remote - participants receive medication by mail and track symptoms using fitness trackers and smart scales from home. For a patient population where many are housebound or bedbound, the design is revolutionary.
"If you're requiring people to come into a clinic, you're systematically excluding the most severely affected folks," explains Julia Moore Vogel, the trial's co-principal investigator who has long Covid herself. Traditional in-person trials have struggled with recruitment precisely because travel is often impossible for the sickest patients.