.@UChicagoMedicine experts can discuss #Tocilizumab research; Drug may reduce need for ventilators in #COVID19 pneumonia

Roche made news today as research showed its drug (tocilizumab) reduced patients’ need for ventilators for those with COVID-19-associated pneumonia. A University of Chicago Medicine team has done separate, independent research on tocilizumab and found similar results in their own phase II trial.…

COVID-19: Patients Improve After Immune-Suppressant Treatment

Most patients hospitalized with COVID-19 (coronavirus) pneumonia experienced improvement after receiving a Food and Drug Administration-approved drug normally given for rheumatoid arthritis, according to an observational study at Cedars-Sinai. Outcomes for patients who received the drug, tocilizumab, included reduced inflammation, oxygen requirements, blood pressure support and risk of death, compared with published reports of illness and death associated with severely ill COVID-19 patients.