Chest: Tosizumab is expected to treat COVID-19 inflammation.

, June 22, 2020 /PRNewswire-BIOON,, has reported encouraging results after treating patients with COVID-19 with a drug at Yale Haven Hospital (YNHH)The drug can reduce the over-inflammatory response of cancer patients who receive immunotherapyteam initially used the drug, called Toxizumab, to treat the most severe lysacs in patients with COVID-19 -- especially those who experienced a "cytokine storm" of dangerous immune response -- that appeared to improve survival, especially in patients who needed mechanical ventilationencouraged by these results, clinicians began to use the drug to patients with mild ERD COVID-19 in order to help them avoid the need for mechanical ventilationThey say that although there was a surge in COVID-19 patients in the hospital during the study period (March 10 to April 21), there was no parallel surge in ventilator use, suggesting that the drug was effective in controlling disease-related dangerous inflammationphoto source: Chestclinical researchers report their findings in the June 15 issue of the journal Chest"Because this is not a randomized controlled trial, we can't say that the patients treated have a survival advantage," said DrChristina Price, associate professor of medical/
immunologyand lead author of the study"But yale's patient synods seem to have a better prognosis than other studies have published on survival and mechanical ventilation." In some cancer patients, excessive inflammation caused by T-cell immunotherapy is similar to the "cytokine storm" in COVID-19,Price saidDuring a "cytokine storm" or cytokine release syndrome (CRS), the body's immune system overreacts and immune cells and body fluids pour into the lungsIn the most severely ill patients, this condition can lead to respiratory failure and death researchers speculated that Toxizumab inhibits CRS, reduces life-threatening inflammation and prevents patients from requiring mechanical ventilation "We chose this drug for biological reasons," Price said "Small clinical series reports in other countries indicate that Toxizumab may be able to treat severe inflammatory responses in patients with COVID-19 Our expertise in the use of the drug at Yale University, as well as the evolving use of biologics in the context of immune disorders, coupled with the availability of the drug, guided our decisions "
study is the largest clinical series of COVID-19 patients treated with Toxizumab to date The study examined 239 COVID-19 patients in YNHH's first hospitalizations, 153 of whom received toxizumab therapy team found that the overall mortality rate of COVID-19 CRS patients treated with Toxizumab was relatively low compared to other hospital reports, especially those who needed mechanical ventilation , which is usually a poor prognosis The 14-day survival rate was 87% for patients treated with Toxizumab, most of whom met the COVID-19 critical hospitalization standard The 48 patients who needed mechanical ventilation who needed mechanical ventilation were treated with tossbeads for an average of 5 and a half days, and their 14-day survival rate was 75 percent "Normally, at least half of patients who need mechanical ventilation die, but only 25 percent of patients who use toxizumab die," said Dr Maricar Malinis, an associate professor of medicine and one of the study's senior authors in all studies, the mortality rate for patients with COVID-19 who needed a ventilator was between 40 and 90 percent to determine which PATIENTs with COVID-19 will be treated with medication, the Yale team designed an algorithm to determine patients who appear to have CRS based on the amount of oxygen needed and the indicators of inflammation "It's a very different strategy -- we usually treat infectious diseases, not their consequences," said Dr Jeff Topal, a clinical associate professor of medicine and infectious disease specialist who oversees hospital drug prescriptions Dr Frederick L Altice, a professor of medicine (infectious diseases) and public health, said the use of algorithms "democratizes treatment by focusing on clinical manifestations rather than patients." As a result, unlike elsewhere, people of color have lower mortality rates than whites "
team includes doctors and specialists in a variety of disciplines: rheumatologists, allergy and immunology
, hematology, oncology , pneumoconiology, pharmacy, and infectious diseases Photo Source: NIAID
As the team observed that Toxizumab was safe and showed promising results in the most severe PATIENTs, they began to use it in patients with milder conditions but with signs of excessive inflammation The aim is to reduce the possibility of mechanical ventilation "Once a patient needs mechanical ventilation, he performs poorly," said Charles Dela Cruz, an associate professor of internal medicine (lung and intensive care) who specializes in respiratory infections in In the absence of clinical trials , it is reasonable to use safe drugs to prevent the worst consequences of COVID-19 "
although the number of patients with new coronary pneumonia increased significantly during the study period (March and April), the number of patients who needed mechanical ventilation was not expected to increase at the same time The use of Tosizumab seems to prevent patients with COVID-19 from developing to require mechanical ventilation, which never exceeds 18 percent of hospital capacity other studies at Yale University and prospective clinical trials
are expected to further validate the effects of Toxizumab on patient prognosis (BioValleyBioon.com) References: Repurposed drug show for the Christina C Price et al.
Tocilizumab treatment for Cytokine Release Syndrome in seied COVID-19 patients: survival and clinical outcomes, Chest (2020) DOI: 10.1016/j.chest.2020.06.006
.