The treatment of COVID-19: lessons learned and future directions

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, this manuscript examines the current standard-of-care treatments in an inpatient and outpatient setting, as well as novel treatment regimens that should be explored. On 29 February 2024, the NIH updated the COVID-19 Treatment Guidelines page for the last time. Over the last 2 years, the treatment options for COVID-19 have remained relatively static. Though there are ongoing studies evaluating inpatient and outpatient therapeutics, most notably the Accelerating COVID-19 Therapeutic Interventions and Vaccines 6 (ACTIV-6) and the Strategies and Treatments for Respiratory Infections and Viral Emergencies (STRIVE) studies, they will both likely end enrollment in 2024. This will leave many promising treatment options without a platform to be tested. It is imperative that we continue to find ways to rigorously test therapeutics, like simnotrelvir, VV116, ensitrelvir and vilobelimab, metformin and a combination of spironolactone and sitagliptin to create better avenues of treatment for patients worldwide.