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Analysis of institutional authors

Canalejo-Castrillero EAuthorGómez-Santos DAuthorBermejo FAuthorGonzalo-Pascua SAuthor

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January 16, 2023
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Article

Baricitinib or imatinib in hospitalized COVID-19 patients: Results from COVINIB, an exploratory randomized clinical trial

Publicated to:Journal Of Medical Virology. 95 (2): - 2023-02-01 95(2), DOI: 10.1002/jmv.28495

Authors: Morales-Ortega, A; Farfan-Sedano, AI; San Martin-Lopez, JV; Escriba-Barcena, A; Jaenes-Barrios, B; Madronal-Cerezo, E; Llarena-Barroso, C; Mesa-Plaza, N; Frutos-Perez, B; Ruiz-Giardin, JM; Duarte-Millan, MA; Piedrabuena-Garcia, SI; Carpintero-Garcia, L; Canalejo-Castrillero, E; Mora-Hernandez, B; Garcia-Parra, CJ; Magro-Garcia, HA; Algaba-Garcia, A; Hernandez-Muniesa, B; Nasarre-Lopez, B; Ontanon-Nasarre, A; Dominguez-Garcia, MJ; Gomez-Santos, D; Prieto-Menchero, S; de Tena, JG; Bermejo, F; Garcia-Gil, M; Gonzalo-Pascua, S; Bernal-Bello, D

Affiliations

Clinical Research Program, Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO) - Hospital Universitario de Fuenlabrada, Madrid, Spain. - Author
Department of Emergency Medicine, Hospital Universitario de Fuenlabrada, Madrid, Spain. - Author
Department of Gastroenterology, Hospital Universitario de Fuenlabrada, Madrid, Spain. - Author
Department of Hospital Pharmacy, Hospital Universitario de Fuenlabrada, Madrid, Spain. - Author
Department of Intensive Care Medicine, Hospital Universitario de Fuenlabrada, Madrid, Spain. - Author
Department of Internal Medicine, Hospital Universitario de Fuenlabrada, Madrid, Spain. - Author
Department of Laboratory Medicine, Hospital Universitario de Fuenlabrada, Madrid, Spain. - Author
Department of Medical Specialties and Public Health, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Madrid, Spain. - Author
Department of Medicine, Universidad de Alcalá, Madrid, Spain. - Author
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Traumatology, Hospital Universitario de Fuenlabrada, Madrid, Spain. - Author
Department of Radiology, Hospital Universitario de Fuenlabrada, Madrid, Spain. - Author
Hosp Univ Fuenlabrada, Dept Emergency Med, Madrid, Spain - Author
Hosp Univ Fuenlabrada, Dept Gastroenterol, Madrid, Spain - Author
Hosp Univ Fuenlabrada, Dept Hosp Pharm, Madrid, Spain - Author
Hosp Univ Fuenlabrada, Dept Intens Care Med, Madrid, Spain - Author
Hosp Univ Fuenlabrada, Dept Internal Med, Madrid, Spain - Author
Hosp Univ Fuenlabrada, Dept Lab Med, Madrid, Spain - Author
Hosp Univ Fuenlabrada, Dept Orthopaed Surg & Traumatol, Madrid, Spain - Author
Hosp Univ Fuenlabrada, Dept Radiol, Madrid, Spain - Author
Hosp Univ Fuenlabrada, Spanish Natl Canc Res Ctr CNIO, Clin Res Program, Madrid 28942, Spain - Author
Inst Invest Sanitaria Hosp La Paz IdiPAZ, Madrid, Spain - Author
Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Hospital La Paz (IdiPAZ), Madrid, Spain. - Author
NULL - Author
Primary Health Care Center Castilla La Nueva, Fuenlabrada, Madrid, Spain. - Author
Primary Hlth Care Ctr Castilla La Nueva, Madrid, Spain - Author
Univ Alcala, Dept Med, Madrid, Spain - Author
Univ Rey Juan Carlos, Dept Med Specialties & Publ Hlth, Madrid, Spain - Author
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Abstract

Baricitinib and imatinib are considered therapies for COVID-19, but their ultimate clinical impact remains to be elucidated, so our objective is to determine whether these kinase inhibitors provide benefit when added to standard care in hospitalized COVID-19 patients.Phase-2, open-label, randomized trial with a pick-the-winner design conducted from September 2020 to June 2021 in a single Spanish center. Hospitalized adults with COVID-19 pneumonia and a symptom duration ≤ 10 days were assigned to 3 arms: imatinib (400 mg qd, 7 days) plus standard-care, baricitinib (4 mg qd, 7 days) plus standard-care, or standard-care alone. Primary outcome was time to clinical improvement (discharge alive or a reduction of 2 points in an ordinal scale of clinical status) compared on a day-by-day basis in order to identify differences ≥ 15% between the most and least favorable groups. Secondary outcomes included oxygenation and ventilatory support requirements, additional therapies administered all-cause mortality and safety.165 patients analyzed. Predefined criteria for selection of the most advantageous arm were met for baricitinib, but not for imatinib. However, no statistically significant differences were observed in formal analysis, but a trend towards better results in patients receiving baricitinib was found compared to standard care alone (HR for clinical improvement 1.41, 95%CI 0.96-2.06; HR for discontinuing oxygen 1.46, 95%CI 0.94-2.28). No differences were found regarding additional therapies administered or safety.Baricitinib plus standard care showed better results for hospitalized COVID-19 patients, being the most advantageous therapeutic strategy among those proposed in this exploratory clinical trial. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Keywords

covid-19imatinibpneumoniasars-cov-2AdultArticleArtificial ventilationAssisted ventilationBaricitinibBariticinibControlled studyCoronavirus disease 2019Covid-19Covid-19 drug treatmentDisease severityDrug efficacyDrug safetyExploratory researchFemaleHealth care qualityHigh flow nasal cannula therapyHospital patientHospital readmissionHospitalizationHumanHumansImatinibImatinib mesylateImmune responseNonhumanNucleic acid amplification techniquesOutcome assessmentPneumoniaRandomized controlled trialReverse transcription polymerase chain reactionSars-cov-2Thorax radiographyTreatment outcome

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Journal Of Medical Virology due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2023, it was in position 4/41, thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Virology. Notably, the journal is positioned above the 90th percentile.

From a relative perspective, and based on the normalized impact indicator calculated from the Field Citation Ratio (FCR) of the Dimensions source, it yields a value of: 9.56, which indicates that, compared to works in the same discipline and in the same year of publication, it ranks as a work cited above average. (source consulted: Dimensions Jul 2025)

Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2025-07-17, the following number of citations:

  • WoS: 1
  • Scopus: 2

Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-07-17:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 16.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 20 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 2.85.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 5 (Altmetric).

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

  • The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.