COVID 19 UPDATE, page-147

So, the artritus drug is an immunosuppressant. This is important for advanced stage COVID-19 patients. But Biotron's compound will achieve something much more fundamental: It will prevent the virus from replicating. That is a step that will reduce the need for immunossuppressants.

An immunosuppressant and an arthritis drug

For some patients with COVID-19, the virus itself doesn't do the worst damage. Rather, in some people their immune system goes into overdrive and launches an all-out assault known as a cytokine storm. That immune overreaction can damage tissue and ultimately kill people.

To quiet such cytokine storms, doctors are now trying an immunosuppressant known as Actemra, or tocilizumab. The drug is approved to treat rheumatoid arthritis and juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. It blocks a cell receptor that binds something called interleukin 6 (IL-6). IL-6 is a cytokine, or a type of protein released by the immune system, that can trigger dangerous inflammatory cascades.

On March 19, pharmaceutical company Roche announced that it was launching a trial to see if tocilizumab could improve outcomes in patients with COVID-19 pneumonia. One group will receive the drug plus other standard treatments, while another group will receive a placebo, plus standard treatments.