WHO recommends two drugs to reduce COVID-19 mortality

The World Health Organization (WHO) updated its patient care guidelines to include interleukin-6 receptor antagonists, a class of drugs that can save the lives of patients with severe or critical COVID-19, especially when administered in combination with corticosteroids.

The recommendation was made based on the findings of a meta-analysis prospective and meta-analysis scalable network initiated by the WHO and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Both are the most significant analyzes of this type performed on these drugs to date. Data from more than 10,000 patients included in 27 clinical trials were taken into account.

It is the first drugs that have shown their effectiveness against COVID-19 since the WHO recommended corticosteroids in September 2020. Patients with severe or critical COVID-19 conditions often have an overreaction of the immune system which can be very harmful to health. The interleukin-6 receptor antagonists, tocilizumab and sarilumab, inhibit this overreaction.

A prospective meta-analysis and an evolutionary network meta-analysis have shown that, in critically or critically ill patients, administration of these medicines reduces the risk of death by 13% compared to usual care. Tests show that treatment with interleukin-6 what is it a glycoprotein secreted by certain cells reduces the risk of death by about 4% (17% in ventilated patients). In addition, in patients who do not yet need ventilation, it reduces the risk of using it by 21%, compared to the usual use of corticosteroids. “Clinical trials to analyze the effectiveness of monoclonal antibodies that block interleukin-6 in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 have reported only benefit, no effect and harm,” the statistics professor said medical and epidemiology of the disease. University of Bristol, Jonathan Sterne.

Researchers who conducted clinical trials in 28 countries shared their data with the WHO, even before its publication. Scientists around the world have collected and analyzed this data. Thanks to the support of these fundamental alliances, WHO was able to issue a rapid and reliable recommendation on the use of interleukin-6 receptor antagonists in patients with severe or critical symptoms of COVID-19.

“These drugs offer hope to patients and families suffering from the devastating impact of a severe or critical case of COVID-19. However, interleukin-6 receptor antagonists remain inaccessible and unaffordable for most countries of the world -declared Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, general manager of the WHO-. The uneven distribution of vaccines makes people in low- and middle-income countries the most likely to contract serious illness from COVID-19. It means that these drugs are most needed in countries that currently have less access. It is urgent to change this situation ”.

To increase access and affordability of these vital commodities, WHO has asked manufacturers to lower prices and make supplies available to low- and middle-income countries, especially those where COVID-19 is experiencing strong growth. WHO also encourages companies to accept voluntary licensing agreements, transparent and non-exclusive via the C-TAP platform and the Drug Patent Bank, or to waive exclusive rights.

In addition, WHO has opened nail call for presentation of expressions of interest for the prequalification of manufacturers of interleukin-6 receptor antagonists. The prequalification of innovative medicines and biosimilar medicines aims to expand the availability of quality-assured products and increase access to them through market competition and reduced prices, in order to meet urgent public health needs.

“While science has worked, now we must focus our attention on access to it ”, concluded in a press release the leading physician in clinical management of health emergencies of the WHO, Janet Diaz.

The international body announced on Wednesday that will test three new drugs (artesunate, imatinib and infliximab) against COVID-19 in hospitalized patients as part of the next phase of your trial ” Solidarity: Solidarity PLUS‘.

These therapies have been selected by a panel of independent experts for their potential to reduce the risk of death in hospitalized patients from COVID-19. They are already used for other indications: artesunate is used for malaria severe, imatinib for some cancers and infliximab for diseases of the immune system like Crohn’s disease and rheumatoid arthritis.

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