Two New COVID Treatments Have Been Approved By The WHO

Baricitinib and sotrovimab are the two newest WHO medication recommendations for severe COVID-19 infections and mild, ordinary cases respectively. Are these revolutionary new options the solutions that we’ve been waiting for?

Both of these novel COVID-19 drugs have earned the WHO’s seal of approval—WHO Prequalification, just a couple of steps above previous Emergency Use Authorizations for other similar COVID treatments of the recent past.

Baricitinib and sotrovimab are both slated to usurp previous generations of COVID-19 treatment approved for emergency use in both of their respective classes and contexts. Here’s what we know so far. 

Two New COVID Drugs Are Being Recommended By the WHO

The World Health Organization’s latest recommendation in the way of COVID-19 treatment: two new drugs, baricitinib, and sotrovimab.

The former is being positioned as the way to go for those suffering greatly from a severe case of COVID. For mild COVID cases, the latter can be used as a means of mitigation and risk management. 

For those interested in the latest, you can check out the placebo-controlled trials that won the day for both baricitinib and sotrovimab. Both are packed with insight into how these two novel COVID treatments may be able to help us overcome Omicron once and for all. 

What Is Baricitinib?

Baricitinib is a Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitor that prevents the immune system from reacting strongly to the coronavirus when taken orally with corticosteroids. Ordinarily, it’s used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, much like the interleukin-6 receptor blockers that the WHO recommended for COVID treatment last year.

Research into baricitinib as a way to treat severe lung inflammation after a COVID-19 infection has been a topic of interest in the scientific community for some time now. The safety of baricitinib for COVID patients has been demonstrated in a clinical setting. It was found to reduce rates of mortality in trial participants, although it hasn’t been shown as being an effective way to prevent a COVID infection in the first place.

According to the literature, baricitinib plays a role in the production of proinflammatory cytokines; high cytokine concentration levels in the patient’s plasma have been linked to the most severe cases of the disease. Preventing this “cytokine storm” appears to suppress inflammation in the lungs, easing the virus’s stranglehold on the victim.

Combination therapy with remdesivir has been shown to be significantly more effective at treating severe COVID-19 than remdesivir alone—the winning combination “accelerated” recovery times, most notably in those receiving noninvasive ventilation treatment. Fewer adverse outcomes were observed than in the placebo control group or the group that was administered only remdesivir.

What Is Sotrovimab?

Sotrovimab, a pan-sarbecovirus monoclonal antibody treatment for COVID-19, carries on where another previous WHO recommendation left off—casirivimab-imdevimab, also recommended around the same time as interleukin-6 blockers. Both accounts for two of three anti-SARS-CoV-2 monoclonal antibody treatments approved for Emergency Use Authorization in November of 2021, alongside bamlanivimab plus etesevimab.

Patients who are unvaccinated, especially susceptible, or immunocompromised in some way may all benefit from sotrovimab. It’s been shown as being one effective way of preventing the patient’s illness from worsening after contracting the virus, credited with a significant reduction in severe adverse health events in those studied during this trial.

Monoclonal therapy for COVID-19 is celebrated primarily for its ability to effectively reduce the viral load in the body, as well as for its tendency to reduce rates of hospitalization and mortality. It’s a relatively low-risk solution for those reckoning with the coronavirus but not yet necessarily dying from it.

Sotrovimab is human-engineered and has been proven effective against even SARS-CoV-1, the original SARS virus of yesteryear. 

This simple fact alone may indicate that sotrovimab might end up being much more effective against Omicron than monoclonal antibody treatments of the past; any measure that actively targets the heart of the viral unit, as opposed to the outlying surface and any associated structures, is much more likely to remain effective with each new COVID variant.

Who Missed the Cut? Ruxolitinib and Tofacitinib for COVID Treatment

Two other Janus kinase inhibitors, ruxolitinib and tofacitinib, were also mentioned in the WHO’s official public statement. The WHO mentions “uncertain effects” associated with both, preventing them from making it to their final round of WHO Prequalification as baricitinib and sotrovimab have.

These timelines paint a fascinating portrait depicting our journey alongside the worst that the coronavirus has inflicted upon us as a society. What does the future hold for us? 

Nobody knows, but one thing cannot be denied: we know a lot more about how COVID-19 works than we did at the beginning of the pandemic. We’re armed with knowledge, and many are optimistic that we’ll be more than capable of handling what’s just ahead.

Has COVID-19 Officially Been Cancelled?

In all likelihood, probably not. However, both baricitinib and sotrovimab serve as two brand-new beacons of hope, especially for those already extremely ill.

Baricitinib and sotrovimab are especially suitable for treating the immunocompromised. Potential COVID patients with underlying conditions like diabetes, hypertension, and obesity may stand to benefit more than anybody else. 

These two radical new COVID drugs mark the beginning of a brand-new chapter, yet another advancement in technology buffering our world and protecting us from the worst of COVID’s past.