Roche Arthritis Drug Meets Key Endpoint in Covid-19 Pneumonia Study
September 18 2020 - 7:28AM
Dow Jones News
By Colin Kellaher
Roche Holding AG's Genentech unit on Friday said a Phase 3 study
of its arthritis drug Actemra met its primary endpoint of reducing
the likelihood of the need for mechanical ventilation in
hospitalized patients with pneumonia associated with Covid-19.
Genentech said patients who received Actemra plus standard of
care were 44% less likely to progress to mechanical ventilation or
death compared to patients who received placebo plus standard of
care.
The study showed that the cumulative proportion of patients who
progressed to mechanical ventilation or death by day 28 was 12.2%
in the Actemra arm, compared with 19.3% in the placebo arm, the
company said, adding that there were no new safety signals for the
drug.
In late July, Genentech said a separate Phase 3 study of Actemra
missed its primary endpoint of improved clinical status in adults
hospitalized with severe Covid-19 associated pneumonia.
Actemra works to suppress the overreaction of a person's immune
system by blocking proteins called interleukin-6, which trigger the
body's inflammatory response. Researchers believe that the
overreaction of the immune system might be causing the most severe
damage to Covid-19 patients, and that drugs that stop this response
might ease some of the most severe symptoms.
Genentech said it plans to share the latest data with the U.S.
Food and Drug Administration and other health authorities around
the world.
--Brianna Abbott contributed to this article.
Write to Colin Kellaher at colin.kellaher@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 18, 2020 07:13 ET (11:13 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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