Eli Lilly’s Arthritis Drug Reduces COVID-19 Mortality, Study Finds

Eli Lilly’s rheumatoid arthritis treatment Olumiant (baricitinib) inhibited the coronavirus and reduced mortality in COVID-19 patients by 71 percent, according to researchers from the Sweden’s Karolinska Institutet.

Published in Science Advances, the study enrolled 83 hospitalized elderly COVID-19 patients in Italy and Spain who were treated with baricitinib and standard of care vs. standard of care alone.

In October, the company released results from a phase 3 study that showed baricitinib combined with Gilead Sciences’ antiviral remdesivir reduced COVID-19 patient recovery time by 12.5 percent, or from eight to seven days, vs. remdesivir alone.