Arthritis drug shows 'significant' promise in severe COVID-19 cases: study

Paris, France. The arthritis drug tocilizumab has shown early promise in preventing extreme inflammation in gravely ill COVID-19 patients, according to a French clinical study.
The treatment, which suppresses the body's natural immune response, was found to reduce "significantly" the number of deaths or life support interventions compared with a control group of patients.
The study, carried out by the Paris university hospital trust (AP-HP), looked at 129 people hospitalised with moderate or severe viral pneumonia, which occurs in 5-10 percent of COVID-19 patients.
Half received two injections of tocilizumab as well as standard treatment with antibiotics, while the control group received only standard treatment.
While the results are yet to be published, those involved in the research said it showed clear "clinical benefit" of tocilizumab treatment.
AP-HP said it had decided to publicise the study before publishing official results "for public health reasons".
They stressed however that further research was needed on the effectiveness of the drug and the potential for side effects.
Tocilizumab, sold under the brand names Actemra and RoAcemtra, is commonly used to treat rheumatoid arthritis.
It is a lab-synthesised antibody that inhibits against a specific protein receptor involved in the body's natural immune response.
Researchers believe the drug might be able to stave off a state of heightened immune response known as cytokine storms -- where the body's reaction to a foreign body such as a disease or chemical creates acute inflammation.
Cytokine storms can be deadly and occur in severely ill COVID-19 patients.
Tocilizumab currently costs around 800 euros ($870) per injection.
Several existing drugs, including anti-viral medicines, are currently being trialled worldwide for COVID-19 treatment.
Meanwhile, another arthritis drug that was being closely watched for its potential use against COVID-19 has delivered disappointing results in clinical trials, its makers said Monday.
Kevzara, which is made by Regeneron and Sanofi, does not attack the novel coronavirus but instead inhibits an abnormal immune response called a "cytokine storm" that causes the lungs of the sickest patients to become inflamed, leaving them fighting for their lives on ventilators.
An early small study in China had appeared promising, but the drug showed no benefit over a placebo in a larger US study of 276 patients with "severe" disease -- that is to say, those requiring oxygen but not ventilators.
There was, however, a ray of hope for those who were "critical," defined as needing mechanical ventilation or high-flow oxygenation. In this group, 44 were on a placebo, 94 were given a low dose and 88 were given a high dose.
Fifty-five percent of patients on the placebo died by the end of the study period, compared with 46 percent on the lower dose and 32 percent on the high dose.
The trial will continue among this critical group.