Olumiant, Remdesivir Combo Shows Promise as COVID-19 Treatment

A late-stage trial of Eli Lilly’s rheumatoid arthritis treatment Olumiant (baricitinib) and Gilead Sciences’ remdesivir found that the combination reduced recovery time in hospitalized COVID-19 patients compared to remdesivir alone.

The National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) phase 3 trial of 1,000 patients found that adding Olumiant reduced recovery time by about one day in patients given the combination compared with those treated only with remdesivir.

Based on the promising data from the NIH trial, Eli Lilly said it will reach out to the FDA to discuss the potential for an Emergency Use Authorization for Olumiant for the treatment of COVID-19 patients.