Roche’s Actemra to treat lung damage in coronavirus patients

Roche’s Actemra, a drug which obtained its first FDA approval in 2010 for rheumatoid arthritis, has recently been discovered to help with life-threatening lung damage in coronavirus patients – China’s National Health Commission has proclaimed in its treatment guidelines.

Fourteen patients who are critically and severely ill due to the coronavirus, and are on existing medications, including for arthritis, were observed by a scientist from the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The scientist who examined the patients, at a hospital affiliated with the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), found promising results.

According to the USTC, scientists have commenced a randomised trial, with the aim to obtain one-hundred and eighty-eight patients – with fifty-per cent on Actemra, to assess the drug’s application.