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3 reviews

• UnconvincingPreliminary

  ADDRESS-LC: phase 2 trial of bezisterim for neurological symptoms of long COVID (topline results)

  BioVie Inc. · Company press release and investor presentation · 2026

  Bezisterim did not clearly beat placebo on any of 22 measures across the whole trial; the reported benefits come from unadjusted, selectively shown subgroups, so they are a hypothesis for a new trial, not evidence the drug works.

  No measure improved clearly in the whole trialBenefits only in subgroups, uncorrected for many testsRandomised, blinded, placebo-controlled, 203 patients
• 4/ 10Fails

  Comparison of adaptive pacing therapy, cognitive behaviour therapy, graded exercise therapy, and specialist medical care for chronic fatigue syndrome (PACE): a randomised trial

  White PD, Goldsmith KA, Johnson AL, et al. · The Lancet · 2011

  A large, well-run trial whose gains rest on questionnaires filled in by patients who knew their treatment, while fitness, work and benefits did not improve; it cannot show that talking therapy or graded exercise changed the illness rather than how it was reported.

  Main outcomes self-rated by unblinded patientsFitness, work and benefits did not improveLarge, properly randomised, very few dropouts
• 3.5/ 10Fails

  Effect of subcutaneous lidocaine–hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin on quality of life in patients with post-COVID condition

  Oostwouder CJ, Vos K, Lutke Schipholt IJ, et al. · eClinicalMedicine · 2024

  No control group, no blinding and only subjective outcomes, so the reported improvement cannot be separated from placebo, regression to the mean or natural recovery.

  No control groupCompletely unblindedSample size adequate for the design