Roche's Actemra helps the sickest Covid-19 patients, study shows

Zurich - 'It remained unclear if Actemra kept people alive or shortened how long they needed intensive care support'

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.

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 modulation treatments, according to early REMAP-CAP trial data.

Anthony Gordon, Imperial College London professor of anaesthesia and critical care, said it remained unclear if Actemra kept people alive or shortened how long they needed intensive 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's early signal was robust, with a 99.75% probability that Actemra is better than getting no immune system modulator.

While survival benefit would be ideal, cutting need for intensive care support is also important, since it would reduce the burden on hospitals where occupancy has swelled during the second wave of coronavirus infections.

"We still think that is important," Gordon said on a call with reporters. "But obviously, we hope it improves both, and we're looking for that."

Actemra's trial results against Covid-19 have been mixed.