The World Health Organisation (WHO) has backed the use of arthritis drugs to treat Covid-19 after they were found to help boost critically ill patients' chances of survival.
Treating severely ill Covid patients with Baricitinib could help curb the number of deaths and reduce the need for ventilators, according to a new study.
Baricitinib is what's known as a Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitor, a drug that blocks certain enzymes in the body and is currently used to treat rheumatoid arthritis.
The WHO's recommendations are based on evidence published in the BMJ from seven trials involving over 4,000 patients with mild, severe and critical covid-19 infections.
To date, Covid-19 has infected 14,732,594 people in the UK and killed 150,609.
Co-author Dr Michael Jacobs at University College London said: "The drug baricitinib is strongly recommended for patients with severe or critical covid-19 in combination with corticosteroids.
"Their strong recommendation is based on moderate certainty evidence that it improves survival and reduces the need for ventilation, with no observed increase in adverse effects."
Baricitinib was found to improve the chances of survival while reducing the need for ventilation among severe Covid patients without any negative side effects.
Other arthritis drugs, known as interleukin-6 (IL-6) inhibitors, also proved effective for those most affected by the virus.
If both are available, patients should make their choice based on price, availability and the clinician's experience, according to the WHO.
Trials involving two other JAK drugs called ruxolitinib and tofacitinib however failed to show benefits and the WHO has advised against using them to treat critical Covid patients.
Tofacitinib in particular, was linked to a rise in serious side effects.
A conditional recommendation has also been made for treating mild Covid patients with monoclonal antibody drugs, but only those who are at high risk of hospitalisation.
While both sotrovimab and casirivimab-imdevimab were found to benefit patients suffering from non-severe symptoms, data was insufficient to recommend one over the other.
Also, whether these drugs are effective against new variants like Omicron remains uncertain until more data becomes available.
The recommendations are part of the WHO's 'living guideline', which was established to provide trustworthy guidance on the management of covid-19 and help doctors make better decisions with their patients.
Co-author Dr Leticia Kawano-Dourado said: "Living guidelines are useful in fast moving research areas like covid-19 because they allow researchers to update previously vetted and peer reviewed evidence summaries as new information becomes available."
It adds to previous guidance on the use of other drugs, including interleukin-6 receptor blockers and systemic corticosteroids for patients with severe or critical covid-19.
Dr Kawano-Dourado said: "Vaccines are linked to limiting hospitalisations, but it is unclear how long protection following vaccination or natural infection will last, or how this might change with the emergence of new variants.
"Therefore, the potential for drugs to treat people infected with covid-19 remains of interest and is the focus of this guideline."
