Two drugs used for the treatment of arthritis - tocilizumab and sarilumab – appear to diminish the risk of death and the need for ventilators among hospitalized COVID-19 patients, suggests a study of around 11,000 patients.

The study has been published in the Journal of the American Medical Association and the WHO has recommended the use of these medicines, along with corticosteroids, in patients with severe or critical COVID-19.In patients hospitalized with COVID-19, administration of one of these drugs, along with corticosteroids, decreased the risk of death by 17%, compared to the use of corticosteroids only. Additionally, among patients not on ventilators, the risk of progressing to mechanical ventilation or death appeared to be decreased by 21%, compared to corticosteroids only… (NDTV – AFP, July 7, 2021)