Baricitinib

Oral baricitinib is linked to lower levels of 5-year radiographic progression than first-line conventional, synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs or placebo in rheumatoid arthritis, according to data published in The Journal of Rheumatology.

In a disturbing repeat of last year’s run on hydroxychloroquine, U.S. health care systems are scrambling to maintain tocilizumab access for rheumatology patients following the drug’s emergency use authorization for COVID-19 and the surge in delta variant cases.

The FDA has called for additional warning labels on janus kinase inhibitors after a safety review found this class of medications was associated with an excess risk for serious heart-related events, cancer, blood clots and death.

The FDA has authorized emergency use of baricitinib alone for the treatment of adults and pediatric patients aged 2 years and older who are hospitalized with COVID-19.

Both a 4 mg and 2 mg dosing regimen of oral baricitinib yielded positive outcomes in patients with moderate to severe atopic dermatitis, according to a study.

Patients with alopecia areata who were treated with baricitinib experienced improvement in eyebrow and eyelash growth before scalp hair regrowth, according to a poster presented at AAD VMX 2021.

The NIH has closed enrollment to the fourth iteration of the Adaptive COVID-19 Treatment Trial, indicating that neither treatment — baricitinib plus remdesivir or dexamethasone plus remdesivir — outperforms the other.

Given the global deluge of data investigating COVID-19 in patients with rheumatic and immune-mediated diseases, clinicians continue to struggle with divergent evidence and recommendations, noted a speaker at the ACR State-of-the-Art Clinical Symposium.

Patients with moderate to severe atopic dermatitis experienced statistically significant improvement with baricitinib 2 mg, according to a phase 3 study.

Patients with COVID-19 who require supplemental oxygen, or noninvasive or mechanical ventilation, should receive systemic glucocorticoids as they can decrease mortality, according to EULAR “points to consider.”