ELOM-080: New hope for COVID-19 patients in general practice!

ELOM-080: New hope for COVID-19 patients in general practice!

On February 12, 2025, Pohl-Boskamp presented the results of the COVARI-2 study, which examines the effectiveness of the herbal active ingredient ELOM-080 in the treatment of COVID-19 patients in outpatient care. How Pohl-Boskamp reported, pointed out Prof. Dr. Michael Dreher from the University Hospital of Aachen and his team point out that the new data expands the findings from the first COVARI study. The aim was to study 121 patients aged 18 to 60 who received either ELOM-080 or a placebo during a 14-day treatment period. The key to treatment was improving mucociliary clearance (MCC), which is often impaired in COVID-19 patients.

Study results and highlights

In the primary analysis, there were initially no significant differences between the two groups, which was due to the large heterogeneity of the patients. However, post hoc analyzes showed that patients with suspected dysfunctional MCC benefited from ELOM-080. There was a significant reduction in coughing attacks (p = 0.007) and a decrease in shortness of breath during exercise (p = 0.0252). In addition, patients showed faster symptom relief of 1 to 3 days was presented in further analyses.

Prof. Dr. Dreher said: “The results highlight the importance of targeted therapy in outpatient care, especially with regard to highly stressful symptoms such as cough and shortness of breath.” This highlights ELOM-080 as a potential component in the therapy of COVID-19 in the outpatient sector, which is of great clinical relevance given the lack of market approvals for treatments in this patient group.