Does Tocilizumab Have a Role in the Treatment of COVID-19?

A possible benefit was observed in case series and cohort studies, but no mortality benefit was seen in several recent randomized prospective studies.

Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, case series suggested a possible benefit of treating the inflammatory state associated with COVID-19 with the interleukin-6 (IL-6) inhibitor tocilizumab (NEJM JW Gen Med 2020 Jun 15 and Proc Natl Acad Sci 2020; 117:10970). In the context of a rapidly evolving pandemic, many centers began using IL-6 inhibitors outside of clinical trials. Now, four studies report results on the use of tocilizumab in patients with COVID-19 pneumonia.

Gupta S et al.

Design: Observational, multicenter cohort study

Location: 68 hospitals in the U.S.

Patient Population: 3924 adults admitted to intensive care, of whom 433 received tocilizumab within the first 2 days after admission

Outcome: After risk adjustment, estimated 30-day mortalit…

Author

Daniel Kaul, MD

Disclosures

Grant/Research SupportNobelpharma; Pfizer

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesAmerican Society of Transplantation (Program Committee)