After producing vaccines and treatments for acute COVID-19 in record time, researchers are turning to finding a cure for long COVID, a more elusive target marked by hundreds of different symptoms afflicting millions of people.

Leading drug makers, including those that launched antiviral pills and monoclonal antibodies for the disease, are having early discussions with researchers about how to target post-acute COVID-19 syndrome, US and UK scientists told Reuters.

Efforts are also underway to repurpose existing treatments, such as gout drug colchicine, as well as experimental therapies intended for other rheumatological conditions including SLE and Sjogren’s syndrome.

Companies including GlaxoSmithKline, Vir Biotechnology and Humanigen confirmed they had spoken to researchers on trials using their current treatments against long COVID.