Study shows metformin lowers the risk of getting long COVID
David Odde
A simulator developed by Prof. David Odde and his team was used in a large, placebo-controlled randomized clinical trial published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases. The long-term outcome from a randomized trial is high-quality evidence that metformin prevents harm from the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

June 9, 2023 — In a new study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, University of Minnesota researchers found that metformin, a drug commonly used to treat diabetes, prevents the development of long COVID. 

The study, called COVID-OUT, investigated if early outpatient COVID-19 treatment with metformin, ivermectin or fluvoxamine could prevent long COVID. 

Metformin’s ability to stop the virus was predicted by a simulator. David Odde, a co-investigator of the trial, a Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, and co-director the Cancer Bioengineering Initiative led the team that developed the simulator.

The model has been highly accurate to date, successfully predicting, among others, the failure of hydroxychloroquine and the success of remdesivir before the results of clinical trials testing these therapies were announced.

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