From The Guardian: Arthritis drug that helps Covid ICU patients has wider benefits, trial finds
Unfortunately, the high cost prevents using this treatment as the first choice.
from article: 'Researchers say tocilizumab could also help patients on general wards and relieve pressure on NHS(...)
snip
A trial called Remap-Cap revealed last month that the anti-inflammatory drug tocilizumab cut both the risk of death among Covid patients in intensive care and the length of time patients spent in such units.
Now the largest trial for Covid treatments in the world, Recovery, has not only supported those findings, but also revealed that tocilizumab could help a wider range of Covid patients.
“We think about half the patients admitted would benefit from this drug based on our calculations,” said Prof Peter Horby of the University of Oxford, who is also Recovery’s joint chief investigator. “We think that can be happening almost immediately.”
snip
The researchers say, however, that tocilizumab costs about £500 a patient, assuming one dose if given, compared with about £5 for dexamethasone, meaning the former is unlikely to be given before the latter, and underscoring the need to find ways to make tocilizumab available around the world.'
much more at link:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/11/arthritis-drug-tocilizumab-found-to-help-covid-icu-patients-has-wider-benefits-trial-finds
Over the last several days I've noticed that The Guardian has begun posting full articles
without asking for registration "to continue reading". If they keep this up I may find it
necessary to contribute to them again since I do value their content.