EMA Reviews Eli Lilly’s Olumiant for Patients Hospitalized With COVID-19

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is reviewing Eli Lilly’s arthritis drug Olumiant (baricitinib) as a possible treatment for hospitalized COVID-19 patients age 10 years and older who require supplemental oxygen.

The immunosuppressant works by inhibiting Janus kinase enzymes that cause inflammation and tissue damage seen in severe COVID-19 infections.

The EMA’s human medicines committee will evaluate data from two large studies and hopes to make a recommendation on the drug by July.

In the U.S., Olumiant received FDA Emergency Use Authorization in November 2020 in combination with Gilead Sciences’ Veklury (remdesivir) for treating COVID-19 patients age two years and older who need supplemental oxygen.