Tocilizumab (Actemra), A Drug for Rheumatoid Arthritis is now for COVID-19 Pneumonia!
Pneumonia, a lung disease caused by viral/bacterial/fungal infection and is characterized by inflammation to the air spaces of the lungs. The severity depends on the causative agent, age, immunity factors etc.,
Emergence of novel Corona virus disease lead to Pneumonia in wide population and seen more in pediatrics (age less than 2 years) and geriatrics (65 years and older). Though treatment of COVID-19 accompanied with submissiveness of the symptoms of pneumonia with the virus expelled from the body, there is a great need for utilization of a specific drug to achieve the holistic treatment.
Tocilizumab, marketed under the brand name Actemra and owned by Genentech (A Member of the Roche Group) is the first humanized interleukin-6 (IL-6) receptor antagonist approved for the treatment of adult patients with moderately to severely active rheumatoid arthritis (RA). When Actemra tested in Phase III clinical trials exhibited promising results in treatment of COVID-19 Pneumonia. It was seen from the trails that, Tocilizumab could able to minimize the need of mechanical ventilation in hospitalized patients who suffers from COVID associated Pneumonia. The company is on the way to submit the data to FDA and other regulatory bodies in this connection.
The EMPACTA (Evaluating Minority Patients with Actemra) study is randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled and multicenter. It was carried on patients who are underrepresented and minority racial and ethnic groups. The outcome of the trials hints that there is approximately 44% of less need for mechanical ventilation / death when Tocilizumab was provided to the patients along with standard care against placebo plus standard care.
