UIC enrolls patients in second remdesivir trial

The University of Illinois at Chicago is enrolling patients in a second clinical trial to study the effectiveness of remdesivir as a treatment for COVID-19.

The trial, which is funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, will study the drug in combination with baricitinib, an anti-inflammatory drug used to treat rheumatoid arthritis.

The institute recently published the results of a trial showing that remdesivir sped up the recovery time for some patients.

“Because baricitinib helps to reduce inflammation, it makes sense to see if it helps reduce the inflammatory response to the infection, alleviates (acute respiratory distress syndrome) and provides an additional benefit to COVID-19 patients who are experiencing severe complications,” said Dr. Richard Novak, UIC’s head of infectious disease and principal investigator of the UIC trial.

The UIC patients will be among an expected 1,000 participating in the trial.

Novak said he expects the majority of patients enrolled by UIC will be members of communities disproportionally impacted by COVID-19.

Earlier this month, the state received 140 cases of remdesivir from the federal government. They went to 14 Illinois hospitals, most of which were in Cook County.

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