Coronavirus control: tocilizumab shows encouraging signs

AP-HP hospitals hope to have found a cure for the most severe cases of coronavirus with an anti-inflammatory drug, tocilizumab.  The hospital group has not yet released specific results.

A clearly encouraging sign.  Researchers from the Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP) hope to have found an initial treatment for the most serious cases of coronavirus, as reported in Les Échos this Monday, April 27.  In a press release published by the AP-HP, it is revealed that the molecule fighting against inflammatory reactions, tocilizumab, "significantly improves the prognosis of patients with moderate or severe Covid pneumonia".  For now, the group is awaiting approval from the scientific journal committee that could publish the research before releasing more specific results.

This discovery was made as part of the Corimuno therapeutic trial.  It brings together more than 420 Covid-19 patients and has several "arms" (serum from cured patients, etc.).  During 14 days, 129 patients were included in the tocilizumab arm;  65 of them received this molecule marketed under the name Actemra, by the Roche laboratory.  The other 64 patients were treated in the usual way: oxygen, antibiotics, anticoagulants.  All were already on a ventilator.  It is a sign of a severe form of the disease.  Thanks to tocilizumab, the risk of going into intensive care was reduced as well as the chances of mortality.  But we do not know in what proportions, report Les Echos.  Given the health emergency, the publication of scientific research should arrive within a few weeks, faster than the usual three-month deadline.

The tocilizumab molecule does not attack the virus itself, but the inflammation that occurs eight days after infection.  According to the AP-HP interviewed by Les Echos, the risk of side effects is low even if it exists: risks of bacterial infection and liver problems.  If the injection of this drug costs 822 euros, it does not present any particular difficulty of supply.  Hospitals may decide to use it on their most at risk patients.  If the High Council of Public Health (HCSP) is in favor, the injection will be all the easier since there would be no need for administrative authorization.