Roche's Bid To Reprogram Arthritis For COVID-19 Treatment Fails

The Swiss drug manufacturer Roche today announced that it has not succeeded in its bid to retool its arthritis drug RoActemrato, also known as tocilizumab, to treat severely hospitalised COVID-19 patients with pneumonia. The company said that the COVACTA trial failed to meet its primary endpoint of "improved clinical status in patients with COVID-19 associated pneumonia, or the key secondary endpoint of reduced patient mortality. Reuters reports that Roche is testing if RoActemrato combined with Gilead's remdesivir can treat COVID-19 patients with pneumonia.