At the Tenon hospital in Paris, around fifty patients with Covid-19 received treatment with tocilizumab, as part of a clinical trial conducted by the Assistance Publique des Hospitals de Paris (AP-HP) . The first results are promising. Some patients have even returned home, says Gilles Pialoux, head of the infectious diseases unit.
You have just learned that tocilizumab is showing encouraging results. What's your reaction ?
GILLES PIALOUX. We are all excited! The trial started on March 30 and, less than a month later, data shows that this anti-inflammatory drug significantly improves the prognosis of patients with Covid-associated pneumonia. It's not nothing. As soon as I found out, I hastened to congratulate the teams for their work. Then I discussed with my colleagues who followed the patients on a daily basis. These good figures did not surprise them. Indeed, they felt that tocilizumab was effective.
In which way ?
We know that Covid-19 first causes a viral infection and then a cytokine storm. This means that the immune system overreacts to the enemy. It is racing, and this exaggerated response can lead to death. A bit like an eraser that would erase too hard and end up punching the paper. Tocilizumab decreases this immune response, it calms the storm. It's sort of the lightning rod.
In which patients has this molecule been tested?
The study concerns two types of patients. People hospitalized, on oxygen, with severe forms of Covid and others in intensive care. For now, we only have results for the former. In Tenon, 49 patients out of 129 in total received infusions of this drug, already used to treat rheumatoid arthritis. This antibody, capable of blocking the proteins of inflammation, helps them to pass a course to prevent their condition from worsening and that they do not end up in intensive care. In fourteen days, the results were visible. Some no longer needed oxygen, and they were even able to go home.
This essay is the first to show an encouraging track against the Covid…
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In war, there is no competition! Our only goal is to find a cure for this virus. Other studies will surely confirm the effectiveness of tocilizumab. The results of patients in intensive care and other ongoing trials are also awaited. I think it will take several treatments to combat this disease. We need it to cure but also in prevention. One thing is certain, it is a sure hope.
