MSF responds to latest WHO recommendation for a COVID-19 therapeutic baricitinib

The Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitor baricitinib, marketed by US pharma major Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY) as Olumiant, is strongly recommended for patients with severe or critical COVID-19 in combination with corticosteroids, an expert group from the World Health Organization has written in the British Medical Journal (BMJ).

The WHO group has also made a conditional recommendation for the use of the monoclonal antibody (MAb) sotrovimab in patients with non-severe COVID-19, but only in those at highest risk of hospital admission, reflecting fewer benefits in those at lower risk.

With the WHO recommending baricitinib for the treatment of people with severe or critical COVID-19, the international medical humanitarian organization Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) calls on governments to take immediate steps to ensure that patent monopolies do not stand in the way of access to this treatment.