On Apr. 10, 2020, BenevolentAI announced that baricitinib, which it had identified as a potential treatment for COVID-19, will enter late stage phase 3 clinical trials to treat the disease. This new trial is occurring alongside a Canadian government-sponsored randomised-controlled trial already underway of baricitinib as a potential treatment.

Baricitinib is an already approved drug developed by Eli Lilly and Incyte for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and is being studied for other indications. The randomised trial announced by Eli Lilly with the US National Institute for Allergies and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) will investigate the efficacy and safety of baricitinib as a potential treatment for patients with serious COVID-19 infections. The study will begin in the US in late April with planned expansion to additional sites in Europe and Asia. Results are expected within the next two months.

In February, in the face of the growing global health crisis, BenevolentAI set up a specialist scientific team and launched an investigation using its drug discovery platform to identify approved drugs which could potentially stop the progression of COVID-19, inhibit the cytokine storm and reduce the inflammatory damage associated with this disease. Benevolent’s research findings were published in The Lancet and again twice in Lancet Infectious Diseases proposing baricitinib as a potential treatment with both anti-viral and anti-inflammatory properties, for COVID-19 patients admitted to hospital prior to the development of critical lung damage.