Expanding on their emergency authorization from November, the FDA has granted Eli Lilly approval for the use of their COVID-19 drug baricitinib to be taken on its own and not in combination with Gilead’s drug remdesivir for patients with COVID-19. With the approval based on Eli Lilly’s April trial, the results indicated that patients who were treated with baricitinib were less likely to need ventilation or die due to the disease. The trial studied 1,525 hospitalized patients with COVID-19 as they either received baricitinib, a placebo, or in combination with corticosteroids and remdesivir. A spokesperson from Eli Lilly stated that, “We are confident in the potential of baricitinib as an important treatment for the hospitalized COVID-19 patient population requiring supplemental oxygen”.
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