Further results from NIAID-sponsored ACTT-2 Trial Presented Today

INDIANAPOLIS, IN, USA I October 8, 2020 I Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) and Incyte (NASDAQ: INCY) are sharing additional data showing baricitinib in combination with remdesivir reduced time to recovery and improved clinical outcomes for patients with COVID-19 infection compared with remdesivir. This finding was part of additional efficacy and safety data from the Adaptive COVID-19 Treatment Trial (ACTT-2) sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) presented today by John Beigel, M.D., associate director for clinical research in the Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases at NIAID. These data were presented at a special International Society for Influenza and other Respiratory Virus Diseases Antiviral Group (isirv-AVG) Virtual Conference on ‘Therapeutics for COVID-19.’ The largest benefits were observed in patients requiring supplemental oxygen (grade 5 on the eight-point ordinal scale) and those who required high-flow oxygen/non-invasive ventilation (grade 6) at baseline.

New data presented today provide a better understanding of the improved clinical outcomes in hospitalized adults with COVID-19 infection who received baricitinib, including data for mortality. As previously reported, ACTT-2 achieved the primary endpoint, demonstrating that the overall patient population treated with baricitinib in combination with remdesivir improved their median time to recovery from 8 to 7 days in comparison to remdesivir, a 12.5% improvement (incidence rate ratio: 1.16; 95% CI: 1.01, 1.32; p=0.04). Recovery was defined as the participant being well enough for hospital discharge, meaning the participant either no longer required supplemental oxygen or ongoing medical care in the hospital, or was no longer hospitalized at Day 29. The study also met a pre-specified secondary endpoint. Using the ordinal scale that ranged from recovered to death, the odds of improvement in clinical status at Day 15 were 30% greater in patients being treated with baricitinib in combination with remdesivir compared with remdesivir (odds ratio 1.3; 95% CI: 1.0, 1.6; p=0.04).

A numerical decrease in death (35%) through Day 29 was observed in patients treated with baricitinib plus remdesivir compared to remdesivir in the overall population (5.1% vs. 7.8%, respectively; hazard ratio: 0.65; 95% CI: 0.39, 1.08; p=0.09). The reduction in mortality was more pronounced for patients receiving oxygen, as mortality at Day 29 was 60% lower and 43% lower for the OS5 and OS6 subgroups respectively. No new safety signals were observed for baricitinib-treated patients in this study. NIAID authors are working to have the full analysis completed and a peer-reviewed manuscript will be made available soon.

“We are excited that these results add to the potential role for baricitinib to treat hospitalized COVID-19 patients,” said Ilya Yuffa, Lilly senior vice president and president of Lilly Bio-Medicines. “Lilly is committed to identifying impactful preventions and treatments, and we are engaged in discussions with the FDA regarding the potential to make baricitinib available to hospitalized patients as quickly as possible.”

Lilly is continuing conversations with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) around the potential for Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) of baricitinib, a JAK1/JAK2 inhibitor licensed to Lilly from Incyte, to treat hospitalized patients with COVID-19. In the U.S., baricitinib has not been approved by the FDA to treat COVID-19, and the efficacy and safety of baricitinib for the treatment of COVID-19 has not been established.

Indication and Usage for OLUMIANT (baricitinib) tablets (in the United States) for RA patients

OLUMIANT® (baricitinib) 2-mg is indicated for the treatment of adult patients with moderately to severely active rheumatoid arthritis who have had an inadequate response to one or more tumor necrosis factor (TNF) antagonist therapies. Limitation of Use: Not recommended for use in combination with other JAK inhibitors, biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs), or with potent immunosuppressants such as azathioprine and cyclosporine.

Please click to access full Prescribing Information, including Boxed Warning about Serious Infections, Malignancies, and Thrombosis, and Medication Guide.

BA HCP ISI 09JUL2020

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. Click here for media resources related to Lilly’s COVID-19 efforts.

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 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. To learn more about Lilly, please visit us at lilly.com and lilly.com/newsroom

P-LLY

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. For additional information on Incyte, please visit Incyte.com and follow @Incyte.

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 reflects Lilly’s and Incyte’s current beliefs. This press release also contains a forward-looking statement about Lilly’s potential antibody treatments for COVID-19. 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 will receive additional regulatory approvals or continue to be commercially successful, or that potential antibody treatments will be safe and effective. For further discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties, see Lilly’s and Incyte’s most recent respective Form 10-K and Form 10-Q filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. Except as required by law, Lilly and Incyte undertake no duty to update forward-looking statements to reflect events after the date of this release.

1 Olumiant Prescribing Information, 2020.
2 Walker JG and Smith MD. J Rheumatol. 2005;32;1650-1653.

SOURCE: Eli Lilly