CORONAVIRUS European Medicines Agency recommends approval of anti-inflammatory drug for covid treatment – Topky.sk

The decision of this European Union medicines agency, which must be confirmed by the European Commission as the EU’s executive body, expands the use of RoActemra, manufactured by the Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche, which is currently used to treat forms of arthritis (inflammatory joint disease).

The EMA, based in the Dutch capital Amsterdam, said the drug could now be used in adult patients with covid who are currently being treated with corticosteroids (ie corticosteroids) and require supplemental oxygen or artificial lung ventilation. The drug, given intravenously, suppresses a protein called interleukin 6, which is often found in excessive amounts in patients with covid.

As the EMA wrote, research among 4,116 hospitalized adults with severe covid showed that RoActemra treatment added to standard treatment reduced the risk of death compared with standard treatment alone.