ZURICH: Novartis said a late-stage clinical trial of ruxolitinib on top of standard therapy showed no significant reduction in severe complications of COVID-19, including death, respiratory failure requiring mechanical ventilation or admission to the intensive care unit.

The trial also did not show relevant benefit for other endpoints including mortality rate by day 29 and time to recovery, it said on Monday.

Novartis licensed ruxolitinib from Incyte Corporation for development and commercialisation outside the United States.