COVID-19: combining antiviral and anti-inflammatory treatments

The high affinity of baricitinib for the numb-associated kinase (NAK) family, its anti-inflammatory properties, with its advantageous pharmacokinetic properties, appear to make it a special case among the approved drugs.  In addition, the potential for combination therapy with baracitinib is high, because of its low plasma protein binding and minimal interaction with CYP enzymes and drug transporters. Combinations of baricitinib with these direct-acting antivirals could reduce viral infectivity, viral replication, and the aberrant host inflammatory response. This work demonstrates that the use of an AI-driven knowledge graph can facilitate rapid drug development.