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Arthritis drug could bring down the risk of COVID-19 mortality

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eMediNexus    06 March 2021

In a new study, tocilizumab, an anti-inflammatory drug used for treating arthritis has been shown to assist in increasing survival among patients suffering from severe COVID-19. India conducted its first multicenter randomized controlled trial on the use of tocilizumab to treat the infection amongst 11 public and private tertiary-care hospitals in the country. The study results were published in the journal Lancet Respiratory Medicine and showed that while there was no difference in mortality and need for ventilation among the two groups of patients when moderate and severe categories of patients were considered together. In a sub-group analysis of the severe patients showed a reduced mortality (8/50; 16%) among those who received tocilizumab compared with those who did not (14/41; 34%) in 28 days. 

This is the first phase-3 which has demonstrated that even though routine use of tocilizumab is not advised in all hospitalized COVID patients, it definitely improved survival among patients with severe symptoms. 

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