Two Arthritis Drugs Reduce Risk Of Covid Death, Shows Study

The study appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association and prompted the World Health Organization (WHO) to recommend the use of the medicines, known as IL-6 inhibitors, in addition to corticosteroids among patients with severe or critical Covid.

Arthritis drugs tocilizumab and sarilumab reduce the risk of death and the need for ventilators among hospitalized Covid-19 patients, according to an analysis of nearly 11,000 patients published Tuesday. The study appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association and prompted the World Health Organization (WHO) to recommend the use of the medicines, known as IL-6 inhibitors, in addition to corticosteroids among patients with severe or critical Covid. Manu Shankar-Hari, a professor at King's College London and lead author of the paper, told AFP that the research represented a "definitive piece of evidence" in favor of the drugs after earlier studies produced mixed results. Among hospitalized Covid patients, administering one of the drugs in addition to corticosteroids reduced the risk of death by 17 percent, compared to the use of corticosteroids alone.