Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors for COVID‐19
Citation: Kramer A, Prinz C, Fichtner F, et al. Janus kinase inhibitors for the treatment of COVID‐19. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2022;(6):CD015209.
Language: Abstract available in EN, ES, FA, FR, TH, ZH. Full text available in EN.
Free to view: Yes.
Funding sources: Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Germany).
What is this? In this Cochrane review, the authors searched for randomised controlled trials (RCTs) on the effectiveness of Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors in treating COVID‐19. They did not restrict their searches by language or method of publication. The authors searched in April 2022 and found six RCTs (11,145 participants). They also identified 13 ongoing and 9 completed, but unpublished studies. This systematic review was registered with PROSPERO, number CRD42021272973.
What works: Systemic JAK inhibitors reduced all-cause mortality in hospitalised patients with moderate to severe COVID-19 infection. Treatment with JAK inhibitors may prevent clinical deterioration and decrease the risk of serious adverse events. JAK inhibitors had little or no impact on the rate of adverse events or the rate of infections acquired in hospitals.
What doesn’t work: Nothing noted.
What is uncertain: The authors did not identify any study that evaluated JAK inhibitors in people with asymptomatic or mild COVID-19.
Implications: The authors of the review stated that the number of hospitalised patients with COVID-19 who needed to be treated (NNT) with a JAK inhibitor for an additional beneficial outcome was 28. There was a need for more research on the effect of systemic JAK inhibitors among patients with different disease severity and on the long-term safety of this treatment.
Other considerations: The authors of the review did not discuss their findings in the context of issues relating to health equity.
This summary was prepared by Eszter Szocs, checked by Grace Meng, and finalized by William Summerskill.