Roche’s Actemra helps the sickest COVID-19 patients, study shows
ZURICH, Nov 19- Roche’s Actemra helped the sickest COVID-19 patients in a 303- patient study, the trial’s lead investigator said on Thursday, bolstering what has been mixed evidence that the arthritis drug can be repurposed to help in the pandemic. Anthony Gordon, Imperial College London professor of anaesthesia and critical care, said it remained unclear if…
By John Miller
ZURICH, Nov 19 (Reuters) – Roche’s Actemra helpedthe sickest COVID-19 patients in a 303-patient study, thetrial’s lead investigator said on Thursday, bolstering what hasbeen mixed evidence that the arthritis drug can be repurposed tohelp in the pandemic.
Actemra, an anti-inflammation drug also called tocilizumab,reached a “key efficacy endpoint” among critically ill patients,compared with patients who did not get immune modulationtreatments, according to early REMAP-CAP trial data.
Anthony Gordon, Imperial College London professor ofanaesthesia and critical care, said it remained unclear ifActemra kept people alive or shortened how long they neededintensive care support like mechanical ventilation, or both.Those details should be published in a couple of weeks, he said.
Even without specific data, however, Gordon said the study’searly signal was robust, with a 99.75% probability that Actemrais better than getting no immune system modulator.
While survival benefit would be ideal, cutting need forintensive care support is also important, since it would reducethe burden on hospitals where occupancy has swelled during thesecond wave of coronavirus infections.
“We still think that is important,” Gordon said on a callwith reporters. “But obviously, we hope it improves both, andwe’re looking for that.”
Actemra’s trial results against COVID-19 have been mixed.
Roche said in September it helped cut the need forventilators in hospitalised patients with COVID-19, though thedrug failed in a separate study of patients hospitalised withsevere COVID-19 related pneumonia.
Other treatments including interferon-beta-1a, interleukin-1receptor antagonist and Sanofi’s arthritis drugKevzara are also in the REMAP-CAP study, but results are not yetavailable.
Gordon said the trial’s placebo arm – in which patients gotno immune modulator – would now be stopped and new patientswould get the treatments.
The REMAP-CAP trial separately concluded that AbbVie’s AIDSdrug cocktail lopinavir/ritonavir didn’t help in COVID-19,mirroring results from earlier studies.(Reporting by John Miller; Editing by Mark Potter)
