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A type of arthritis drug called baricitinib may help reduce the risk of death for elderly patients with Covid-19 according to a new international study, led by scientists from Imperial College London and Karolinska Institutet, Sweden.
The study was published in the journal Advances in science.
In an early-stage study, researchers administered a drug called baricitinib to 83 patients, with an average age of 81, who all suffered from moderate to severe Covid-19 infection.
“This drug is usually used to treat rheumatoid arthritis and was initially identified by the Imperial team using artificial intelligence as a drug that could have antiviral and anti-inflammatory effects,” according to an official statement.
According to an analysis, these patients, who were in multiple hospitals in Italy and Spain, had a 71% reduced risk of death compared to patients who had not taken the drug. Compared with 35% of patients who were not given the drug, 17% of patients who were given the drug died or had a ventilator. “The study suggests that this drug may aid the recovery of patients with moderate to severe Covid-19 and may provide a new weapon in our arsenal against the virus. Large-scale clinical trials of this drug are underway to further investigate its potential, ”said Professor Justin Stebbing, co-lead author of the study from Imperial’s Department of Surgery and Cancer.
In early research, scientists from the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden and those from the Imperial team cultivated organoids in the laboratory. Organoids are miniature human organs. These were then used to investigate how exactly the drug can help treat Covid-19.
According to the research, the drug worked in two ways. It reduced the damage to organs caused by inflammation. It also blocked the virus from entering human cells. “We have seen the best results from a recently announced randomized trial called Adaptive Covid Treatment Trial-2, which shows the benefits of baricitinib plus remdesevir, compared to remdesvir alone in over a thousand patients,” Stebbing said.
“Other very large studies currently underway include COV-BARRIER, and this will help create a more complete picture of the benefits and side effects of the oral drug (a small number of patients in our study needed to stop treatment due to problems. liver function). Further studies comparing baricitinib with other drugs in patients with Covid-19 would be helpful in improving outcomes, ”Stebbing added.
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