Arthritis drug adds to benefit of steroids in severe illness

Hospitalized COVID-19 patients died less often if they received Eli Lilly and Co’s rheumatoid arthritis drug baricitinib along with the other treatments their doctors had prescribed, according to a study published on Wednesday in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine.

The randomized trial involved 1,525 seriously ill patients, all of whom needed extra oxygen to help with breathing. More than 90% were already receiving dexamethasone, a cheap generic steroid known to improve survival of critically ill COVID-19 patients.

While baricitinib, sold under the brand name Olumiant, did not appear to keep patients from getting sicker, it did reduce their risk of dying.

The 28-day and 60-day death rates were 5% lower among patients randomly assigned to receive baricitinib instead of a placebo.

Baricitinib is already approved in the United States for use in hospitalized COVID-19 patients in combination with Gilead Science’s antiviral drug remdesivir.

The two drugs together appear to have more benefit than remdesivir alone.

In the new study, more than 80% of participants were not receiving remdesivir, suggesting that baricitinib also “has synergistic effects with other standard-of-care treatments,” including dexamethasone, researchers said.