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Scientists have had promising results in drug tests for rheumatoid arthritis against the new coronavirus in France last week. However, experts warn that there are still more studies to test the positive effects of the drugs and also experiments in a larger number of patients. The World Health Organization (WHO) warned that there is still no effective treatment or vaccine against covid-19.
Tocilizumab, from Roche’s laboratory, “significantly” reduced the proportion of patients who had to be transferred to intensive care, or died, compared to those who received standard treatment. The information was provided by the Public Assistance-Hospital de Paris (AP-HP), responsible for the investigation.
It is the “first randomized comparative study” that “demonstrates the clinical benefit” of this treatment in covid-19 patients who have a serious infection, its organizers said during a virtual press conference.
These results have not yet been “consolidated” and will be published in a scientific journal in a few weeks. AP-HP explains that it has decided to release them now “for public health reasons” due to the pandemic, and report them to the French health authorities and the WHO.
A study by the biotech firm Regeneron Pharmaceuticals with the French pharmaceutical company Sanofi S.A found that the drug Kevzara, also against arthritis, may help patients with advanced stage of covid-19.
The manufacturers said they would continue to test high doses of Kevzara only in those considered critically ill. The decision was based on the guidance of an independent committee that reviewed the data from the initial test. The data shows that the drug did not help patients considered serious, those who need mechanical ventilation or are in the ICU.
More studies needed, infectologists say
Experts heard by State Point out that the two drugs have not yet undergone scientific rigor studies and have been tested in a small number of people. Therefore, it is not yet possible to say that both are 100% effective. “We are waiting for the studies to clarify the doubt, because the use of these drugs has been described in isolation. It is also necessary to verify whether the drug is for everyone,” explains the infectologist Esper Kallás, from the Department of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases of the USP.
Kallás claims that Tocilizumab and Kevzara are responsible for blocking a cytokine called interleukin-6, a mediator of the immune system that is part of the inflammation chain.
Carlos Magno Fortaleza, an infectious disease specialist at Unesp, estimates that there is still a long way to go before finding a drug that works against covid-19. “We need to wait for bigger studies. Although science must be an emergency, we have to keep the inquisitive spirit. We are not going to find a magic pill overnight.” / /with information from AFP, Reuters and NYT
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