NIH expert panel that shaped COVID treatment disbands as guidance stabilizes after rush of new therapies
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Pfizer's Paxlovid antiviral drug combines two drugs to fight COVID-19 and has been fairly effective at keeping mild/moderate cases out of the hospital.
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The NIH convened a panel of experts early in the pandemic to create COVID-19 treatment guidelines that became an influential reference for doctors globally.
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Treatment guidance evolved rapidly at first as new evidence emerged, but has slowed significantly recently, prompting the NIH panel to disband.
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Early effective treatments included steroids/antivirals for hospitalized patients and lab-made antibodies for outpatients, but new coronavirus strains made the antibodies obsolete.
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Outpatient antiviral pills like Paxlovid and molnupiravir have seen low usage rates due to complexity, access issues, and patients' hesitation to take them.