www.fdanews.com/articles/202575-ema-reviews-eli-lillys-olumiant-for-patients-hospitalized-with-covid-19
![EMA logo European Medicines Agency logo](https://www.fdanews.com/ext/resources/test/Drug-Images3/EMAlogo.jpg?t=1628546093&width=430)
EMA Reviews Eli Lilly’s Olumiant for Patients Hospitalized With COVID-19
May 3, 2021
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is reviewing Eli Lilly’s arthritis drug Olumiant (baricitinib) as a possible treatment for hospitalized COVID-19 patients age 10 years and older who require supplemental oxygen.
The immunosuppressant works by inhibiting Janus kinase enzymes that cause inflammation and tissue damage seen in severe COVID-19 infections.
The EMA’s human medicines committee will evaluate data from two large studies and hopes to make a recommendation on the drug by July.
In the U.S., Olumiant received FDA Emergency Use Authorization in November 2020 in combination with Gilead Sciences’ Veklury (remdesivir) for treating COVID-19 patients age two years and older who need supplemental oxygen.