Baricitinib is a drug that's being manufactured by the American pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly. The company, on May 10, announced that it has given royalty-free, non-exclusive voluntary licenses for Indian pharmaceutical manufacturers to produce the drug in India.
It even donated 4 lakh doses of the drug to India on an immediate basis.
What is Baricitinib?
Baricitinib drug was developed for treating Rheumatoid Arthritis in adults who weren't responding well to other medicines. The drug worked by inhibiting the janus kinase, a family of enzymes. That's why the drug is called a JAK1/2 inhibitor since it works on those subtypes of the janus kinase family.
Why is it used for COVID-19?
In November 2020, a few studies concluded that the drug was found suitable for use in the treatment of COVID-19 patients if used with the antiviral drug Remdesivir.
The drug improves recovery time and the condition of patients when taken in combination with Remdesivir as compared to patients who are taking only Remdesivir.
“The use of non-invasive ventilator and oxygen therapy may take up to 18 days but Remdesivir and Baricitinib combination may show recovery results within 10 days. Baricitinib works in the same way as steroids, perhaps even better," said Dr Nikhil Balankhe, senior physician attached to Viveka Multispecialty hospital, the Times of India reported.
Baricitinib has anti-inflammatory properties and has been repurposed for use in the treatment of COVID-19 patients.
It works on COVID-19 patients like steroids. However, there is no substantial research result to establish Baricitinib as a substitute for steroids though many experts believe this could be useful in COVID-19 treatment by replacing the risk of the side effects of steroids.
Baricitinib has the ability to reduce IL-6 and it severely limits the Coronavirus to induce cytokine storms in affected patients.
The drug also reduces the viral load as well as the oxygen requirement in patients.
