INDIANAPOLIS - Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) and Incyte (NASDAQ: INCY) announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for the distribution and emergency use of baricitinib to be used in combination with remdesivir in hospitalized adult and pediatric patients two years of age or older with suspected or laboratory confirmed COVID-19 who require supplemental oxygen, invasive mechanical ventilation, or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO).
'Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Lilly has been committed to finding potential treatments to help people around the world who've been impacted by this virus,' said David A. Ricks, Lilly chairman and CEO. 'Today's FDA action for baricitinib marks the second Lilly therapy to be granted an EUA, in addition to the recent neutralizing antibody EUA for high-risk non-hospitalized patients, increasing the number of treatment options for COVID-19 patients at different stages of the disease. This is an important milestone for hospitalized patients on oxygen, as baricitinib may help speed their recovery.'
The FDA grants emergency use authorization to provide availability of a medicine that may help diagnose, treat or prevent a life-threatening disease when no adequate and approved alternatives are available. This use of baricitinib is authorized only for the duration of the declaration that circumstances exist justifying the authorization of the emergency use, unless the authorization is terminated or revoked sooner. The authorization is temporary and does not replace the formal review and approval process. In the U.S., baricitinib has not been approved by the FDA to treat COVID-19, and the efficacy, safety and optimal duration of treatment of baricitinib for COVID-19 has not been established. This is the first combination regimen authorized by FDA. Evaluation of baricitinib's efficacy and safety as a treatment for COVID-19 is ongoing in clinical trials.
Scientific evidence supporting this EUA
The EUA is based on data from the Adaptive COVID-19 Treatment Trial (ACTT-2), a randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of baricitinib in combination with remdesivir versus placebo with remdesivir in hospitalized patients with or without oxygen requirements conducted by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). All patients received standard supportive care by the trial site hospital. The recommended dose for this EUA is baricitinib 4-mg once daily for 14 days or until hospital discharge.
About Lilly's COVID-19 Efforts
Lilly is bringing the full force of its scientific and medical expertise to attack the coronavirus pandemic around the world. Existing Lilly medicines are now being studied to understand their potential in treating complications of COVID-19, and the company is collaborating with two partner companies to discover novel antibody treatments for COVID-19. Lilly is testing both single antibody therapy as well as combinations of antibodies as potential therapeutics for COVID-19.
About OLUMIANT
OLUMIANT is a once-daily, oral JAK inhibitor approved in the U.S. for the treatment of adults with moderately to severely active rheumatoid arthritis who have had an inadequate response to one or more TNF inhibitor therapies, and approved outside of the U.S. for patients with moderately to severely active rheumatoid arthritis who have had an inadequate response to one or more DMARDs.1 Olumiant is also approved in the European Union for the treatment of adult patients with moderate to severe atopic dermatitis who are candidates for systemic therapy. There are four known JAK enzymes: JAK1, JAK2, JAK3 and TYK2. JAK-dependent cytokines have been implicated in the pathogenesis of a number of inflammatory and autoimmune diseases.2 OLUMIANT has greater inhibitory potency at JAK1, JAK2 and TYK2 relative to JAK3; however, the relevance of inhibition of specific JAK enzymes to therapeutic effectiveness is not currently known.1
In December 2009, Lilly and Incyte announced an exclusive worldwide license and collaboration agreement for the development and commercialization of baricitinib and certain follow-on compounds for patients with inflammatory and autoimmune diseases.
About Eli Lilly and Company
Lilly is a global health care leader that unites caring with discovery to create medicines that make life better for people around the world. We were founded more than a century ago by a man committed to creating high-quality medicines that meet real needs, and today we remain true to that mission in all our work. Across the globe, Lilly employees work to discover and bring life-changing medicines to those who need them, improve the understanding and management of disease, and give back to communities through philanthropy and volunteerism.
About Incyte
Incyte is a Wilmington, Delaware-based, global biopharmaceutical company focused on finding solutions for serious unmet medical needs through the discovery, development and commercialization of proprietary therapeutics.
This press release contains forward-looking statements (as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995) about OLUMIANT (baricitinib) as a potential treatment for patients with COVID-19 and as a treatment for patients with rheumatoid arthritis, and about the supply of OLUMIANT, and reflects Lilly's and Incyte's current beliefs. This press release also contains forward-looking statements about Lilly's neutralizing antibodies as potential treatments for patients with or at risk of infection from COVID-19 and reflects Lilly current beliefs. However, as with any pharmaceutical product, there are substantial risks and uncertainties in the process of development and commercialization. Among other things, there can be no guarantee that OLUMIANT or Lilly's neutralizing antibody treatments will prove to be safe and effective treatments for patients with COVID-19, that OLUMIANT or Lilly's neutralizing antibody treatments will receive additional regulatory approvals or authorizations, that OLUMIANT will continue to be commercially successful, or that we can provide an adequate supply of OLUMIANT or Lilly's neutralizing antibody treatments in all circumstances.
Contact:
Michael Booth
Tel: +1-302-498-5914
Email: mbooth@incyte.com
ELI LILLY AND COMPANY 
