The search for a cure and vaccine against the contagious coronavirus continues unexpectedly. Now the doctors hope that two different drugs against the highly contagious virus will work and want to initiate further medical studies. Can Covid-19 be optimally treated with a combination of medications soon?
Physicians at the US University of Michigan may now have an effective combination of medications for
COVID-19 patients with severe disease were found. They were given the active ingredient tocilizumab, which blocks an immune-stimulating protein called IL-6. The drug was administered to 78 patients with a severe course of the disease in the intensive care unit who were connected to ventilators. The study concludes that patients treated with tocilizumab had a greater chance of recovery than those who did not. However, it still has to be assessed according to which specification the doctors made the selection of the patients.
After previous studies with the drug Remdesivir had been successful in Covid-19 patients, the pharmaceutical company Roche now wants to test the active ingredient tocilizumab manufactured by the company in combination with Remdesivir. This drug cocktail could have promising results in effective treatment in COVID-19 patients. Remdesivir works by preventing the virus from multiplying in the body, while tocilizumab blocks the IL-6 protein, which is responsible for the immune system’s response. Doctors have found that an overactive immune system is a problem for seriously ill patients in the case of COVID-19.
