A randomized controlled trial depicted that in people having COVID pneumonitis, 10 mg Tofacitinib twice daily for 2 weeks prevents deterioration to respiratory failure and has a favorable safety profile. Alessia Ferrarini et al. sought to determine the impact of promptly adding Tofacitinib to conventional treatment for hospitalized patients with mild to severe COVID-19 pneumonitis.

The conventional therapy alone or Tofacitinib (10 mg/bid) for 2 weeks, beginning during the first 24 hours of admission, was randomly administered to COVID-19 pneumonitis patients who did not need mechanical ventilation. Overall, 116 volunteers were randomly assigned; 49 in the experimental group finished the 14-day intervention period, 9 stopped taking Tofacitinib as their condition deteriorated and were analyzed, and 1 passed away from respiratory failure. The study was finished by all 58 control participants. The research groups had comparable demographic and clinical characteristics.

By day 14, 15.5% (9/58) of the Tofacitinib group's patients advanced to non-invasive ventilation (continuous positive airway pressure [CPAP]) to maintain SO2 more than 93%, invasive mechanical ventilation, or death, which is significantly less than the volunteers in the control group (20/58, 34.4%, relative risk [RR] 0,45, relative risk reduction [RRR] -55%, number needed to treat [NNT] 5). There were no inter-group variations in the occurrence of serious adverse effects. Therefore, early administration of Tofacitinib is beneficial and safe in COVID-19 pneumonitis patients.