WHO Recommends Olumiant and Sotrovimab as New Treatment Options for COVID-19

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Recently, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended two new drugs for the treatment of COVID-19, providing more options for combating the disease. The extent to which these drugs can save lives depends on their availability and affordability.

The first drug is Eli Lilly's JAK inhibitor Olumiant (baricitinib), which is strongly recommended for the treatment of severe COVID-19 patients. This drug is a JAK1/JAK2 inhibitor, belonging to the class of Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors, which can suppress excessive stimulation of the immune system. The WHO recommends using Olumiant in combination with corticosteroids.

Olumiant is an oral medication that has been approved for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and atopic dermatitis. The drug provides an alternative therapy to the interleukin-6 receptor (IL-6R) blockers recommended by the WHO in July 2021.

The second drug is sotrovimab, a monoclonal antibody medication from GlaxoSmithKline/Vir, which has been conditionally recommended for the treatment of patients with mild or moderate COVID-19 who are at high risk of hospitalization. This includes older individuals, those who are immunocompromised, patients with underlying conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, and obesity, as well as unvaccinated patients.

Sotrovimab provides an alternative therapy to the WHO-recommended monoclonal antibody cocktail casirivimab-imdevimab in September 2021. Multiple studies are currently evaluating the effectiveness of monoclonal antibody drugs against Omicron, but early laboratory research indicates that sotrovimab remains active against this variant.

The expert panel that developed the guidelines also examined two other drug treatments for severe and critical COVID-19: ruxolitinib (a JAK1/2 inhibitor) and tofacitinib (a JAK1/3 inhibitor). In light of the uncertainty surrounding their efficacy, the WHO issued a conditional recommendation against their use.

This recommendation forms the eighth version of WHO’s COVID-19 treatment guidelines, based on evidence from seven clinical trials involving more than 4,000 patients with non-severe, severe, and critical COVID-19.

WHO in Talks with Drugmakers to Ensure Global Supply Capability and Fair, Sustainable Access to Newly Recommended Therapies. The Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT-A) has been collaborating with pharmaceutical companies to seek comprehensive drug access programs for low- and middle-income countries, enabling these drugs to be rapidly deployed worldwide, not just in wealthy nations. ACT-A is also working to expand licensing to make the drugs more affordable.

WHO has begun the prequalification of these two newly recommended drugs to assess the quality, efficacy, and safety of priority medical products, thereby increasing drug access in low-income countries.

Reference Source: WHO recommends two new drugs to treat COVID-19