The US Food and Drug Administration has issued an Emergency Use Authorization for the gammaCore Sapphire CV non-invasive vagus nerve stimulator (nVNS) to help adult asthmatics with COVID-19.
The gammaCore stimulator has been approved as a treatment option for migraines and cluster headaches (see flashbacks below), but it was initially researched as a way for treating reactive airway diseases such as asthma. The new Emergency Use Authorization, in a way, validates that research.
“Results from prior pilot studies that evaluated gammaCore for the acute treatment of asthma support our belief that nVNS may provide much needed relief to patients who are experiencing asthma-related breathing difficulty, which can be particularly debilitating in patients with COVID-19,” said Peter Staats, MD, Chief Medical Officer of electroCore. Potentially this may lead to the vagus nerve stimulator being used more widely for asthma and other reactive airway diseases.
