Montefiore Health System and Albert Einstein College of Medicine jointly announced on Tuesday the launch of the Adaptive COVID-19 Treatment Trial (ACTT 2) to evaluate treatment options of baricitinib and remdesivir for people hospitalized with severe COVID-19 infection, under a sponsorship agreement with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health.

The preliminary results from the antiviral drug remdesivir in a multicenter trial showed that patients with COVID-19 who received remdesivir recovered in 11 days on average, over 15 days for patients in the placebo group. Remdesivir was developed by Gilead Sciences Inc.

This trial is now studying remdesivir in combination with inflammatory drug baricitinib or placebo in a double-blind, randomized trial in people with COVID-19 to prevent or reduce the hyper-inflammatory effect that can fatally overwhelm the lungs and other parts of the body when their immune system reacts to coronavirus infection. Baricitinib was developed by Eli Lilly and Company.

Under the ACTT 2 trial, all patients will receive remdesivir intravenously for up to ten days. Half of the patients will be given baricitinib by mouth, with the remaining half receiving an identical placebo, both for up to 14 days, concluded the companies.