Anti-inflammatory drug may shorten COVID-19 recovery time

(AP) — A drug company says that adding an anti-inflammatory medicine to a drug already widely used for hospitalized COVID-19 patients shortens their time to recovery by an additional day.

Eli Lilly announced the results Monday from a study of 1,000 people sponsored by the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

The results have not yet been published or reviewed by independent scientists.

The study tested a pill that Indianapolis-based Lilly already sells to treat rheumatoid arthritis.

All study participants received remdesivir, a drug previously shown to reduce the time to recovery by four days. Those who also were given the Lilly drug recovered one day sooner.