A new non-profit “startup” focused on studying and treating long-term covid is emerging today with $15 million from Ethereum co-inventor Vitalik Buterin.
While the global pandemic has come to an end for many, millions of people around the world are still suffering from the long-term effects of COVID-19. Studies show that between 20% and 40% of those infected with Covid-19 experience at least one long-lasting symptom, ranging from mild fatigue and “brain fog” to severe physical impairment such as headache, pain, muscle weakness and difficulty breathing.
The truth of the matter is that we simply don’t know enough about Chronic Covid and how to treat it, which is what the Chronic Covid Research Initiative (LCRI) is trying to make its mark on.
LCRI is led by four founders, one of whom is Dr. Amy ProyalA renowned microbiologist at the Polybio Research Foundation with more than 10 years of experience studying conditions similar to Long Covid – Proal herself has been a patient of ME/CFS (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome), which is similar to Long Covid, for 20 years. Proal will be joined by Henry Scott-Green, a London-based product manager who has been without his day job at Google YouTube for the past two years due to the prolonged Covid-19 pandemic. Helga Gutmann, formerly an investor at KKR; and Nick Harrold, former SaaS startup founder.
Dr. Amy Proyal of LCRI
Move fast and make things right.
Scott-Green was first diagnosed with Covid-19 in 2018. It’s August 2020, and his symptoms in the months and years that followed include what he calls “fatigue crashes” and brain fog. “Thanks to various treatments, I’ve improved dramatically over the last year – at my worst it was so severe that I couldn’t even do basic tasks,” he told TechCrunch.
But it’s his experiences trying to treat his illness, including working with health professionals, that have led him to the path he is on today – although he feels he’s luckier than other long-term Covid sufferers.
“Two years ago, very few people — including doctors — knew about chronic COVID, and it was difficult to even diagnose,” Scott-Green said. “I’ve been lucky enough to have great specialists who have helped me a lot in the end, but not many people are so lucky. Access to good quality care is still a major problem for the vast majority of people in this area.
Although LCRI is largely run from the United Kingdom, it is officially the Polybio Research Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization focused on studying complex chronic inflammatory diseases. Despite its non-profit status, the tech backgrounds of LCRI’s founders could serve as a bedrock for something like a “laptop” start-up and what Scott-Green calls a “global public health emergency” like Covid-19.
Indeed, as well-intentioned and robust as some government-led funding programs and initiatives have been, Scott-Green says from experience, things move too slowly, which is why LCRI is adopting an operational model. “Urgency and practicality” of the startup.
“A long-term Covid research program based solely on government grants will take a long time to show results,” he said. “As a patient, I realized that I needed to move quickly and bring quick answers to the vast number of people suffering around the world.
To support the mission, the founders have brought together researchers and specialists from Harvard, Stanford, Yale, UCSF, John Hopkins University, other renowned institutions, philanthropists and patient communities who are working together to solve the long-term problem of Covid.
“We’re operating as a lean organization that prioritizes fast execution and close collaboration — and we’re trying to apply the same organizational principles that have enabled technology to deliver big, ambitious projects faster when it makes sense and overall,” Scott-Green said. “This has allowed us to work collaboratively in an unconventional model, bringing together a group of the best researchers in the world, on a mission to solve disease, and execute a joint research roadmap that answers the most pressing questions in the space.”
Henry Scott-Green of LCRI
virtual research institute
LCRI’s remote, collaborative nature—none of the founding team is physically connected—makes it essentially a virtual research institution. And to achieve its mission, it plans to adopt a two-pronged approach to conducting research and therapeutics.
For the first research phase, scientists from some of the world’s most respected institutions will share their collective knowledge and study long-term Covid-19 disease mechanisms, while a series of clinical trials will strive to put the findings of the research program into real-world treatments.
None of this comes for free, of course, which is where today’s crowdfunding advertising comes into play. Buterin, best known as one of the creators of the Ethereum blockchain, is investing around $15 million in the USDC stablecoin through the $100 million Balvi fund. It was prepared at the beginning of this year Especially for covid research projects. In addition, LCRI has received commitments from the Chan Soon-Shiong Family Foundation (CSSFF), a philanthropic body run by surgeon, scientist and billionaire businessman Patrick Soon-Shiong with his philanthropist wife Michelle B. Chan.
“Balvi and Vitalik reached out to Amy to ask about supporting her research projects, and the partnership grew from there,” Scott-Green said. “CSSF has pledged to donate a small amount, but we are still discussing the final amount.”
While $15 million gives LCRI a good start, it may not be enough in the long run, which is why it’s aiming for $100 million in funding in the coming years — and plans to eventually expand the model to related conditions like Epstein’s. bar virus and enteroviruses. But first they have to deal with the long covid.
Scott-Green continued: “We are looking to raise substantial funding for long-term COVID research over one to two years and to conduct extensive research and clinical trials. “We will get our first results from the research program, and we can use those results to inform our clinical trial efforts. Our sole focus is on finding answers for people suffering from chronic Covid, and our goal is to understand the mechanisms of the disease and identify treatment options.”
