U.K. to Use Roche Arthritis Drug for Severely Ill Covid Patients
- Study showed reduction in mortality and ICU times with Actemra
- Sanofi and Regeneron’s Kevzara also included in research
In previous studies, Roche’s Actemra had reduced the need for patients to be ventilated and appeared to help them leave hospitals earlier.
Photographer: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg
The U.K. will start using a Roche Holding AG arthritis drug to treat critically ill Covid-19 patients after a study showed that it reduced mortality and shortened recovery times in intensive care.
Some 27% of critically ill patients who got the Roche arthritis drug Actemra or a similar treatment from Sanofi and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. died in the hospital, compared with about 36% of those who didn’t get them, an Imperial College London research team said. Those treated with the medicines were able to be released from the hospital an average of a week earlier, the study found.