Eli Lilly Starts Clinical Trial for Potential COVID-19 Treatment

Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY) is one of the many drugmakers that have been looking to develop a treatment for COVID-19, and the company recently announced it was making progress in its efforts to do so. Eli Lilly partnered up with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) to study the safety and efficacy of Olumiant as a potential treatment for COVID-19. The FDA approved Olumiant in June 2018 as a treatment for moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Eli Lilly now thinks the RA medicine -- because of its anti-inflammatory effects on the immune system -- may be effective at treating COVID-19 patients.