BenevolentAI, a UK-based startup that raised $292 million to apply artificial intelligence to create drugs faster, announced in February that, they had uncovered an already approved drug as a potential treatment for COVID-19. The announcement, especially given the scale and rapid spread of the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) acute respiratory disease across the world, has advanced rapidly, just like the virus. After the announcement in early February, Benevolent’s research hypothesis was published in in the prominent medical journal The Lancet and again twice in Lancet Infectious Diseases proposing baricitinib, a drug used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, as a potential treatment for COVID-19 patients prior to the development of critical lung damage.

The researchers propose that baricitinib can be a potential treatment due to its anti-viral and anti-inflammatory properties which can help reduce the inflammatory damage to the lungs, usually associated with COVID-19.

The discovery was possible due to the Knowledge Graph, which is an AI-enabled large repository of structured medical information, including numerous connections extracted from the scientific literature by machine learning. Together with customizations, especially for 2019-nCoV, the Graph searched for approved drugs that could help, focusing on those that might block the viral infection process. 

Baroness Joanna Shields, CEO of BenevolentAI said in a press release that, “Rather than focusing solely on drugs that could affect the virus directly, we explored ways to inhibit the cellular processes that the virus uses to infect human cells. We identified baricitinib as a potential drug with both anti-viral and anti-cytokine properties and published our research in early February.” By March, investigator-led studies had already begun recruiting and treating infected patients with baricitinib. 

Earlier this week, Eli Lilly, a US-based pharmaceutical company that markets baricitinib under the brand name Olumiant, announced that it is working with the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases on a large clinical trial of the drug in hospitalized COVID-19 patients.

Previously, it would have taken years to design, organize and launch such a trial but today, with AI and advanced technologies, it has been possible to facilitate the faster discovery of treatments and their potential impact on patients. The clinical trial with baricitinib should begin in the US in April and may expand to Europe and Asia soon. By June, the researchers would be able to establish the efficacy of the drug, if at all. 

“The results of such trials will be central to clinical care as the outbreak continues and we anticipate that this treatment will improve mortality and reduce the pressure on hospitals and ICU’s worldwide. This research is notable for its incredible speed from the computer to bench and bedside within a few months,” concluded Professor Justin Stebbing from Imperial College, London, who has been collaborating on this work between Eli Lilly and BenevolentAI.