Baricitinib reduces deaths in hospitalized COVID-19 patientsThe rheumatoid arthritis drug baricitinib was shown to reduce mortality in hospitalized COVID-19 patients, according to a randomized, controlled trial published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine yesterday.
Baricitinib acts as a Janus kinases inhibitor and is under emergency use authorization to treat severe COVID-19 by the US Food and Drug Administration.The study, called COV-BARRIER, consisted of 1,525 hospitalized COVID-19 patients (median age, 57.6 years) from 12 countries who received either baricitinib daily for 14 days or placebo in addition to standard care, which could have included remdesivir or dexamethasone.