Fareon Announces Oral Presentation of First-in-Class Biophysics Treatment Results in Patients with Cognitive Impairment from Long COVID at the 2026 ISLC-PAIS Annual Meeting
- Randomized, triple-blind, sham-controlled clinical trial demonstrated improvements across multiple cognitive domains and emotional wellbeing.
- Findings support further investigation of the Fareon Restore™ biophysics platform in people with brain disorders marked by neuroinflammation and oxidative stress such as post-concussion syndrome, mild cognitive impairment, Alzheimer's disease, ischemic stroke and Long COVID.
SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 25, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Fareon, a clinical-stage biophysics company pioneering novel therapies for brain disorders, brain injuries, and neurodevelopmental conditions, today announced that results of a clinical study evaluating its Fareon Restore™ biophysics platform in people with persistent, debilitating Long COVID brain fog will be presented at the International Society for Long COVID and Post-Acute Infection Syndromes (ISLC-PAIS) Annual Meeting, held August 26-29, 2026 in Amsterdam.
“This is the first data I have seen suggesting that restoration of lost brain function may be possible,” said David Putrino, Ph.D., Nash Family Director of the Cohen Center for Recovery from Complex Chronic Illness at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and lead investigator of the study. “I am eager to present data about the Fareon Restore platform at ISLC-PAIS 2026 that continues to deepen our understanding of treatments with the potential to bring hope to a growing number of people whose job security, relationships and independence have been impacted by infection-associated chronic conditions like Long COVID.”
Dr. Putrino will deliver the oral presentation unveiling the first peer-reviewed clinical data about the Fareon Restore biophysics platform. In the study, Microtesla Magnetic Therapy (MMT), a novel low-intensity, radiofrequency electromagnetic field that passes unimpeded through the skull and reaches deep brain structures, was delivered through a noninvasive lightweight Fareon Restore headset, worn in the comfort of participants’ homes.
Findings from the randomized, triple-blind, and sham-controlled clinical study conducted by the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai showed that MMT was safe, feasible to administer at home using the Fareon Restore headset, and associated with improvements in cognition and mood in people with persistent, debilitating Long COVID brain fog.
Brain fog is among the most common and disabling symptoms of Long COVID, a condition affecting an estimated 17 million adults in the United States alone1 but there are currently no approved treatments for the condition.
Beyond Long COVID, the data supports further investigation of MMT as a potential at-home therapy aimed at activating the brain's natural repair pathways to restore brain function across brain disorders marked by neuroinflammation and oxidative stress such as post-concussion syndrome, mild cognitive impairment, Alzheimer's disease, and ischemic stroke.
“We started Fareon with a belief that there was a fundamentally different way to treat brain disorders by restoring underlying biological function with noninvasive biophysics instead of pharmacology,” said Blake Gurfein, CEO and Founder of Fareon. “We’re encouraged by the results of this first in human study and are focused on validating and scaling this approach to help the millions of people with inadequate treatment options.”
The Long COVID study builds upon previously published preclinical findings demonstrating the biological effects of Fareon’s novel MMT approach, delivered via the Fareon Restore platform. Earlier this year, investigators reported in Cell Press iScience that MMT reduced inflammatory signaling in human immune cells by up to 40% following a single 15-minute treatment, and decreased markers of brain inflammation by as much as 90% in an animal model of inflammatory brain injury, supporting potential mechanisms underlying the clinical observations. Together, these studies provide converging evidence that MMT may influence fundamental biological pathways involved in neurological disease and psychiatric disorders.
Fareon is advancing its Fareon Restore biophysics platform into larger clinical studies, including the planned pivotal RECLAIM trial, while expanding development into additional brain disorders characterized by neuroinflammation and impaired mitochondrial function, including Parkinson's disease, autism spectrum disorder, mild traumatic brain injury, and other conditions with significant unmet treatment needs.
About the study:
The trial, led by principal investigator Dr. David Putrino, along with neuropsychologist Dr. Jacqueline Becker, demonstrated tolerability and feasibility as well as gains in working memory, verbal learning, processing speed, and emotional wellbeing.
The study randomized 30 participants 2:1, with 20 receiving active MMT and 10 receiving sham.
Participants self-administered 15-minute treatments at home twice weekly for four weeks (NCT06739668).
All participants who completed the study received all eight prescribed treatments, and there were no device-related adverse events.
The effects measured strengthened between week four (when treatment ceased) and week eight rather than fading, a pattern consistent with an underlying biological response, such as resolution of inflammation or activation of repair, rather than suggesting a short-lived placebo effect.
At week 8, between-group differences favored active treatment on working memory (WAIS-IV Digit Span Sequencing, d = 0.54, p = 0.026), verbal learning and memory (HVLT-R Recall, p = 0.044), processing speed (D-KEFS Color Naming, d = 0.70, p = 0.049), and emotional wellbeing (SF-36, d = 0.89, p = 0.017).
The data was posted to medRxiv in March 2026 and the manuscript is currently undergoing peer review for publication. The findings require confirmation in a larger trial.
About Long COVID
Long COVID, a post-acute condition of SARS-CoV-2 infection, is a serious chronic condition that can affect multiple bodily systems and significantly disrupt activities of daily living.2 While the Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) has ended, COVID continues to infect millions of Americans annually, with cumulative infection risks that lead to upwards of 3-7% of infected individuals reporting symptoms consistent with Long COVID.3 An estimated 17 million adults are living with Long COVID in the United States alone.4 The economic impact of disease burden was estimated to amount to $218 billion in lost U.S. earnings in a single year5 and has removed approximately 1 million Americans from the workforce.6 Long COVID brain fog is linked to a reduced ability to work and maintain everyday functions.7 The need for new modalities of treatments and therapies is well documented.
About Fareon
Fareon is pioneering a new class of biophysics therapies designed to treat brain disorders through precisely calibrated electromagnetic fields. The company’s Fareon Restore platform delivers proprietary Microtesla Magnetic Therapy (MMT) in order to activate biological pathways associated with resolution of inflammation and oxidative stress, repair, and recovery in the brain. In clinical trials, MMT has been delivered through a lightweight wearable Fareon Restore headset connected to a tabletop console.
Working alongside leading academic and clinical collaborators, Fareon combines biophysics, high-content imaging and AI to systematically map how physical fields influence biology, accelerating the discovery of therapeutic signals and their translation from cellular models to patients. The company is developing therapies for clinical populations where existing treatment options remain limited. The company’s lead product is intended to be administered comfortably in an outpatient or home setting and has been well tolerated in clinical studies to date.
Learn more at fareon.co/.
Microtesla Magnetic Therapy is an investigational therapy. Caution: investigational device, limited by federal law to investigational use. It has not been cleared or approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and its safety and effectiveness for any indication have not been established.
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Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including without limitation statements about the development, use, benefits and effects of Fareon’s products and related technology, future plans for the Fareon’s business and growth, and the expected use cases of Fareon’s products. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terms such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “expect,” "design," “plan,” “anticipate,” “could,” “intend,” “target,” “project,” “contemplates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “predicts,” “potential” or “continue” or the negative of these terms or other similar expressions. Such statements and other statements in this press release that are not descriptions of historical facts are forward-looking statements that are based on management's current expectations and assumptions and are subject to risks and uncertainties. If such risks or uncertainties materialize or such assumptions prove incorrect, our business, operating results, financial condition, and stock price could be materially negatively affected. Actual results and the timing of events could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements made herein speak only as of the date of this press release and, unless otherwise required by law, Fareon does not undertake any obligation to publicly update such forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.
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1 https://www.kff.org/covid-19/long-covid-rates-appear-to-be-stabilizing-affecting-about-1-in-10-adults-who-have-had-covid/
2 https://www.hhs.gov/longcovid/index.html
3 See https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2026.1809635/full; see also https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2849452#google_vignette
4 https://www.kff.org/covid-19/long-covid-rates-appear-to-be-stabilizing-affecting-about-1-in-10-adults-who-have-had-covid/
5 https://idp.nature.com/authorize?response_type=cookie&client_id=grover&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nature.com%2Farticles%2Fs43856-025-00759-0
6 https://www.cdc.gov/long-covid/living-with/index.html
7 https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10867690/
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