Purpose of review The development and use of immunomodulators and other therapies during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic provided several lessons with respect to these therapies, and to how medical researchers and clinicians should approach the next pandemic. Recent findings New or repurposed therapies, particularly immunomodulator treatments, for the treatment of an infectious disease will always be associated with inherent patient risk and this was the case during the COVID-19 pandemic. The concomitant development and use of effective antimicrobial therapies along with close monitoring for secondary infections is paramount for patient safety and treatment success. The development of immunomodulators and other therapies during the COVID-19 pandemic further highlighted the importance of maintaining high standards for medical research for all potential treatment with large double-blind placebo-controlled trials and peer review being the best mode of disseminating medical results rather than social media outlets. Summary The next new and emerging pandemic will undoubtedly share many of the same challenges posed by COVID-19. It is important that researchers and clinicians learn from this experience, adhere to tried and true clinical care, all the while conducting high quality research aimed at developing definitive treatments.