Covid-19 roundup: Eli Lilly declares success on JAK blocker in NIH trial; UK gives small biotech a big vaccine deal
The NIH-led study that gave the world the first positive, randomized remdesivir result has come back with a second one, showing that, when combined with remdesivir, an Eli Lilly molecule can slightly improve on time to recovery over remdesivir alone.
The ACTT-2 trial, a follow-up that began after the remdesivir section was completed, enrolled over 1,000 hospitalized Covid-19 patients and found that those given the antiviral remdesivir plus the Eli Lilly JAK inhibitor baricitinib recovered a median of “approximately one day” sooner than those given remdesivir alone. Similar to the IL-6 inhibitors from Regeneron and Roche — which failed in Phase III trials — baricitinib was designed to tamp down the overactive immune response seen in the later stages of Covid-19.
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