Olumiant (baricitinib) / Incyte, Eli Lilly - LARVOL DELTA

When too much is not enough: an unexpected role for interferon signaling in a mouse model of Down syndrome (Neuroscience 2026) - "JAK-STAT inhibition (baricitinib) and genetic copy number rescue of IFN-I receptor dosage (Dp162xIFNAR1) failed to improve, and in some cases exacerbated, these behavioral phenotypes...Together, our data reveal a physiologic “goldilocks zone” of IFN-I signaling that promotes healthy brain development in this DS mouse model. This raises the question of whether enhancement, rather than inhibition of IFN-I signaling, may be therapeutically beneficial for some neurodevelopmental disorders."

Preclinical • CNS Disorders • Mental Retardation

Peripheral Immune Modulation in Atopic Dermatitis During Dupilumab or Baricitinib Treatment Is Limited, as Assessed by Proteomic, Transcriptomic, and Torque Teno Virus Analyses. (PubMed, Int J Mol Sci) - "Teno torque virus plasma load remained stable throughout therapy, indicating preserved immunocompetence. These findings suggest that the dominant inflammatory processes in atopic dermatitis may be largely tissue-restricted, supporting the use of peripheral biomarkers for pragmatic monitoring rather than mechanistic discovery."

Biomarker • Journal • Atopic Dermatitis • Dermatitis • Dermatology • Immune Modulation • Immunology • Inflammation

Impact of baricitinib on thyroid function and autoimmunity in severe alopecia areata: A pilot study. (PubMed, J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol) - No abstract available

Journal • Alopecia • Endocrine Disorders • Gastrointestinal Disorder • Immunology

Eli Lilly and Company…announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Olumiant (baricitinib), a once-daily pill, for the treatment of pediatric patients 12 years of age and older with severe alopecia areata (AA) (PRNewswire) - "The FDA approval is based on 36-week data from the adolescent cohort (ages 12 to under 18) of BRAVE-AA-PEDS, the first and largest Phase 3 study specifically designed to evaluate pediatric patients with severe AA."

FDA approval • Alopecia • Immunology

Risk of Diverticulitis in Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients Treated With IL-6 Inhibitors Versus JAK Inhibitors: A Real-World Propensity-Matched Study (ACG 2026) - "Two mutually exclusive cohorts were defined: IL-6 inhibitor users (tocilizumab, sarilumab, siltuximab) without JAK inhibitor exposure, and JAK inhibitor users (tofacitinib, baricitinib, upadacitinib, filgotinib) without IL-6 exposure...Outcomes were assessed at 5 years, 10 years, and all follow-up after 1:1 propensity score matching for age, sex, diabetes, obesity, tobacco use, prior diverticular disease, alcohol-related disorders, NSAID, glucocorticoid, and methotrexate use... After matching, 10,459 patients remained per cohort, well-balanced (all standardized differences < =0.04). At 5 years, diverticulitis occurred in 160 IL-6 patients (1.6%) versus 146 JAK patients (1.4%): RR 1.092 (95% CI 0.874-1.365), p=0.436; HR 1.196 (0.955-1.497). At 10 years, 192 (1.9%) versus 172 (1.7%): RR 1.113 (0.907-1.365), p=0.304; HR 1.182 (0.962-1.453)."

Clinical • Real-world • Real-world evidence • Diabetes • Gastroenterology • Gastrointestinal Disorder • Genetic Disorders • Immunology • Inflammation • Inflammatory Arthritis • Inflammatory Bowel Disease • Metabolic Disorders • Obesity • Rheumatoid Arthritis • Rheumatology

Janus Kinase Inhibitor Use After Liver Transplantation Is Associated With Sustained Malignancy and Thromboembolic Risk: A Propensity Score-Matched Real-World Cohort Study (ACG 2026) - "JAKi exposure included tofacitinib, ruxolitinib, upadacitinib, or baricitinib recorded on or after documentation of LT status. Among 74,576 adults with LT, 238 received JAKi and 74,338 did not. After PSM, 232 patients were retained in each cohort with balanced demographic and clinical characteristics. JAKi use was associated with higher malignancy risk at 1 year (23.3% vs 12.1%; HR 2.33, 95% CI 1.48â3.69; p< 0.001), which persisted at 5 years (26.7% vs 17.2%; HR 2.15, 95% CI 1.44â3.22; p< 0.001)."

Clinical • Real-world • Real-world evidence • Cardiovascular • Chronic Kidney Disease • CNS Disorders • Diabetes • Dyslipidemia • Genetic Disorders • Graft versus Host Disease • Hypertension • Immunology • Infectious Disease • Metabolic Disorders • Myeloproliferative Neoplasm • Myocardial Infarction • Nephrology • Obesity • Oncology • Transplant Rejection • Transplantation • Venous Thromboembolism

JAK DC in Play: JAK Signaling in Depression and Cognition in Male Football Players (clinicaltrials.gov) - P2 | N=30 | Recruiting | Sponsor: Emory University | Not yet recruiting ➔ Recruiting

Enrollment open • CNS Disorders • Depression • Mood Disorders • Psychiatry

Effect of JAK Inhibitors on Fatigue and Sleep Quality in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Narrative Review. (PubMed, J Clin Med) - "An analysis of available study results showed that baricitinib, filgotinib, tofacitinib and upadacitinib reduce fatigue severity. For upadacitinib, an improvement in sleep quality appeared to be associated with disease control and remission. The smaller number of studies on sleep quality than on fatigue highlights the need to consider this parameter more thoroughly when assessing the efficacy of JAKi treatment and emphasises the importance of a more holistic approach in clinical practice."

Journal • Review • CNS Disorders • Fatigue • Immunology • Inflammation • Inflammatory Arthritis • Pain • Rheumatoid Arthritis • Rheumatology • Sleep Disorder

Real-World Cardiovascular and Mortality Outcomes of Janus Kinase Inhibitors Versus Tumor Necrosis Factor Inhibitors in Rheumatoid Arthritis (ACR Convergence 2026) - "TNF inhibitors comprised adalimumab, etanercept, infliximab, certolizumab pegol, and golimumab. JAK inhibitors included tofacitinib, baricitinib, and upadacitinib... In this real-world study, Janus kinase inhibitors were associated with higher long-term mortality and a modest increase in major adverse cardiovascular events compared with tumor necrosis factor inhibitors, with notable differences across individual agents. These findings highlight the need for careful cardiovascular and thrombotic risk assessment when selecting JAK inhibitor therapy and support further prospective studies to refine patient selection."

Clinical • Real-world • Real-world evidence • Atrial Fibrillation • Cardiovascular • Hematological Disorders • Immunology • Infectious Disease • Inflammatory Arthritis • Oncology • Respiratory Diseases • Rheumatoid Arthritis • Rheumatology • Venous Thromboembolism

Risks of breast or prostate cancer recurrence and a second cancer in patients with inflammatory arthritis following treatment with biologic and targeted synthetic DMARDs - A nationwide cohort study (EULAR 2026) - "Eligible drugs included all five TNFi, non-TNFi bDMARDs (abatacept, rituximab, sarilumab, tocilizumab (for RA), sekukinumab, ixekizumab, bimekizumab (for SpA/PsA), and tsDMARDs, that is JAK inhibitors (baricitinib, filgotinib, tofacitinib, upadacitinib). The corresponding analyses of non-TNFi-bDMARDs, and in particular tsDMARDs, were limited by few events. The findings are clinically reassuring, supporting the safety of TNFi when treating IA in patients with a prior breast or prostate cancer."

Clinical • Ankylosing Spondylitis • Breast Cancer • Genito-urinary Cancer • Immunology • Inflammatory Arthritis • Oncology • Prostate Cancer • Psoriatic Arthritis • Rheumatoid Arthritis • Rheumatology • Seronegative Spondyloarthropathies • Solid Tumor • Spondylarthritis

JAK inhibitors and adverse cardiovascular events: Class effect or molecule-specific risk? (PubMed, Front Pharmacol) - "Randomized trials, observational studies, and pharmacovigilance analyses involving tofacitinib, baricitinib, upadacitinib, and filgotinib have produced heterogeneous findings, with no consistent replication of a uniform class-wide cardiovascular signal. Mechanistic plausibility exists for both hypotheses through shared JAK-STAT pathway effects on vascular inflammation and thrombosis. This narrative review synthesizes current evidence from clinical trials, real-world data, and regulatory perspectives to critically assess the available evidence regarding whether cardiovascular risk represents a class effect or a molecule-specific phenomenon."

Adverse events • Journal • Review • Cardiovascular • Hematological Disorders • Immunology • Inflammatory Arthritis • Myocardial Infarction • Oncology • Rheumatoid Arthritis • Rheumatology • Thrombosis

Cancer Risk with Janus Kinase Inhibitors: Drug-Specific Risks or a Class Effect? A systematic literature review and network meta-analysis across Immune Mediated Inflammatory Diseases (ACR Convergence 2026) - "Eligible comparators were placebo (PBO) and/or methotrexate monotherapy (MTX) or another active comparator. Models allowing treatment-specific JAKi effects provided a better fit than a common class-effect model. While tofacitinib was associated with increased cancer risk relative to TNFi, similar associations were not observed for baricitinib, upadacitinib, or filgotinib. These findings suggest that malignancy risk may vary between JAKi and should not necessarily be assumed to represent a uniform class effect."

Retrospective data • Review • Gastroenterology • Gastrointestinal Disorder • Genetic Disorders • Immunology • Inflammatory Arthritis • Inflammatory Bowel Disease • Oncology • Psoriasis • Psoriatic Arthritis • Rheumatoid Arthritis • Seronegative Spondyloarthropathies • Skin Cancer • Solid Tumor

Tuberculosis during JAK inhibitor or TNF-α inhibitors therapy: a disproportionality analysis from WHO pharmacovigilance database. (PubMed, Thorax) - "Among JAK inhibitors, the risk of TB varied and appeared significant for ruxolitinib, baricitinib, tofacitinib and upadacitinib. Overall, 42 patients (5.9%) died with active TB.JAK inhibitors are associated with an increased risk of TB. These results argue to recommend latent TB infection screening and systematic anti-TB preventive therapy even in low endemic countries, before initiating JAK inhibitor therapy."

Adverse events • Journal • Hematological Disorders • Infectious Disease • Inflammation • Pulmonary Disease • Respiratory Diseases • Tuberculosis

Comparative Risk of Herpes Zoster and Pneumonia Among Tofacitinib, Baricitinib, and Upadacitinib in Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Propensity Score-Matched Analysis of the TriNetX Research Network (ACR Convergence 2026) - No abstract available

Herpes Zoster • Immunology • Infectious Disease • Inflammatory Arthritis • Pneumonia • Respiratory Diseases • Rheumatoid Arthritis • Rheumatology • Varicella Zoster

Cardiovascular and Mortality Outcomes with JAK versus TNF Inhibitors in Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Target Trial Emulation (ACR Convergence 2026) - "JAKi initiation was associated with modest excesses in all-cause mortality and HF hospitalization versus TNFi, but no excess in MACE. Heterogeneity was clinically relevant: upadacitinib showed no excess, whereas tofacitinib and baricitinib each carried significant mortality signals. The null MACE result should not be read as class-wide safety reassurance."

Cardiovascular • Congestive Heart Failure • Heart Failure • Immunology • Inflammatory Arthritis • Ischemic stroke • Myocardial Infarction • Rheumatoid Arthritis • Rheumatology • Venous Thromboembolism

Pediatric Alopecia Areata and JAK Inhibitors: Bridging the Gap Between Evidence and Practice. (PubMed, J Am Acad Dermatol) - "Despite this, emerging evidence and clinical experience demonstrate meaningful hair regrowth in pediatric patients treated with several JAKis, including abrocitinib, baricitinib, deuruxolitinib, ritlecitinib, ruxolitinib, tofacitinib, and upadacitinib, with generally favorable safety profiles. Limitations include heterogeneous outcome reporting between various reports and studies. Overall, this clinical review synthesizes current evidence and clinical experience to provide practical guidance on JAKi selection, dosing, safety monitoring, and key considerations for implementing these therapies in pediatric AA."

Journal • Review • Alopecia • Eosinophilia • Gastrointestinal Disorder • Immunology • Pediatrics

Disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) for rheumatoid arthritis after failure of biologic or targeted synthetic therapy: a systematic review and network meta-analysis. (PubMed, Cochrane Database Syst Rev) - "We found high-certainty evidence that nine therapies and moderate-certainty evidence that two therapies provide a clinically important benefit in improving disease activity compared to placebo for people with rheumatoid arthritis after failure of b/ts DMARD therapy. There was significant uncertainty surrounding treatment-related harms, with the evidence having been downgraded for serious or extremely serious imprecision. Pair-wise comparisons showed no significant differences among therapies, although the certainty of evidence was low. The lack of clarity regarding safety and comparative efficacy suggests that treatment decisions should be guided by individual patient characteristics and preferences."

Clinical • Journal • Retrospective data • Review • Fatigue • Immunology • Infectious Disease • Inflammatory Arthritis • Oncology • Pain • Rheumatoid Arthritis • Rheumatology • IL6

Cardiovascular Outcomes of Upadacitinib/Baricitinib Versus Tofacitinib in Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Propensity-Matched Retrospective Study (ACR Convergence 2026) - No abstract available

Retrospective data • Cardiovascular • Immunology • Inflammatory Arthritis • Rheumatoid Arthritis • Rheumatology

From pathogenesis to emerging therapeutic targets (EADV 2026) - "The lecture will review the rapidly evolving landscape of Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors, including ruxolitinib, upadacitinib, povorcitinib, baricitinib, and ritlecitinib, with discussion of available phase 2 and phase 3 clinical trial data, combination strategies with phototherapy, and practical considerations for daily clinical practice. - Review the current evidence and clinical development of targeted therapies, particularly JAK inhibitors and novel immune-modulating agents. - Explore the rationale and clinical potential of combination therapies, including JAK inhibitors with phototherapy."

Dermatology • Genetic Disorders • Immunology • Non-melanoma Skin Cancer • Skin Cancer • Solid Tumor • Vitiligo • CAT • CXCL10 • CXCL9 • IFNG • IL15 • NKG2D

Janus Kinase Inhibitor Use in Adults Aged 65 Years and Older: A Clinical Review Across Atopic Dermatitis, Alopecia Areata, and Psoriasis. (PubMed, J Am Acad Dermatol) - "JAK inhibitors may be a reasonable option for carefully selected older adults, but the decision should be a deliberate one. It rests on disease-specific efficacy, baseline cardiovascular and oncologic risk, modifiable comorbidities, label-directed dosing, and close monitoring. Age-stratified data remain sparse, and each decision should be individualized."

Journal • Review • Alopecia • Atopic Dermatitis • Cardiovascular • Dermatitis • Dermatology • Immunology • Inflammatory Arthritis • Psoriasis • Psoriatic Arthritis • Rheumatology • Seronegative Spondyloarthropathies

JAK Inhibitors in Cutaneous Polyarteritis Nodosa: A Systematic Review. (PubMed, J Cutan Med Surg) - No abstract available

Journal • Vasculitis

Effectiveness and retention of certolizumab pegol and JAK inhibitors in rheumatoid arthritis: a multicenter retrospective study stratified by rheumatoid factor status. (PubMed, Front Med (Lausanne)) - "This multicentre retrospective cohort included RA patients initiating CZP or JAKi (baricitinib, filgotinib, tofacitinib, upadacitinib) between 2010 and 2024. A numerical difference in treatment retention favouring CZP was also observed. These findings highlight the potential importance of considering RF levels when selecting treatment and warrant further investigation in prospective studies."

Journal • Retrospective data • Immunology • Inflammatory Arthritis • Rheumatoid Arthritis • Rheumatology

Risk of Malignant Melanoma with biologic- or targeted synthetic disease-modifying therapies in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: a Swedish Nationwide Cohort Study (EULAR 2026) - "Exposures were categorized as (i) JAKi (baricitinib, filgotinib, upadacitinib, tofacitinib), (ii) non-TNFi (abatacept, rituximab, sarilumab, tocilizumab), and (iii) TNFi (adalimumab, certolizumab, etanercept, golimumab, infliximab). However, for both drug classes there were signals of an internal shift in the distribution of invasive (approximately 1 extra annual case for every 2000 patients) vs. in situ MM (approximately 1 fewer annual case for every 2000 patients). Abatacept was associated with an increased risk of MM overall."

Clinical • Congestive Heart Failure • Coronary Artery Disease • Diabetes • Genetic Disorders • Heart Failure • Immune Modulation • Immunology • Infectious Disease • Inflammatory Arthritis • Melanoma • Metabolic Disorders • Nephrology • Non-melanoma Skin Cancer • Pulmonary Disease • Renal Disease • Respiratory Diseases • Rheumatoid Arthritis • Rheumatology • Skin Cancer • Solid Organ Transplantation • Solid Tumor

Use of Jak-inhibitors in a tertiary level pediatric pulmonary department (ERS 2026) - "Patients, treated with baricitinib (n=5), ruxolitinib (n=4), or tofacitinib (n=1), were monitored at least every 3 months for clinical response (oxygen requirement, disease stabilization/progression) and safety. JAKi may offer a broader therapeutic spectrum, enabling disease control and steroid spearing in otherwise refractory diseases that currently necessitate complex combination immunosuppressive therapies. We speculate that the benefit may be even better if JAKi will be introduced earlier-on."

Clinical • Graft versus Host Disease • Immunology • Inflammation • Interstitial Lung Disease • Pediatrics • Pulmonary Disease • Respiratory Diseases • Scleroderma • Systemic Sclerosis

Successful Switching from Baricitinib to Tofacitinib in a Case of Refractory Alopecia Universalis: A Case Report (EADV 2026) - No abstract available

Case report • Clinical • Alopecia • Immunology