Arthritis Drug Tocilizumab Turns ‘Miracle Med’, Cuts Death Rates From COVID-19 Patients

The medicine which a clinical trial has found to reduce the impact of COVID-19 in serious cases is called Tocilizumab, and has achieved significant results when combined with other treatments.

When used alongside dexamethasone, a treatment for inflammation, it can cut the death rate of COVID-19 patients by a third, and up to half in the most serious cases.

Once the most serious phase of the disease has begun and inflammation can produce a spiral caused by the immune system, the two treatments can save lives and reduce hospital stay times while removing the need for ventilators.

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What is Tocilizumab?

It’s a monoclonal antibody usually used for rheumatoid arthritis, which until now had shown few results as a COVID-19 treatment.

It brings cells together relying on inflammatory proteins common in serious illnesses to build a natural defence.

Up to 30 or 50 percent reduction in deaths

Around 30 percent fewer patients in hospital die when treated this way, while the number soars to 50 percent when talking about patients in intensive care.

The medicine, manufactured by European company Roche with the name Actemra, also increases the chance of surviving by seven percent.

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“It helps all patients with low levels of oxygen that are already suffering from advanced inflammation, the impact of tocilizumab combined with dexamethasone is impressive and very welcome,” explains Peter Horby, an emerging illness expert at Oxford University.

Over 2,000 patients were monitored in the study, with four percent of them surviving once entering the most dangerous stage of the illness.