Sanofi and Regeneron are now testing out an arthritis drug to treat the coronavirus, starting in New York
Regeneron and Sanofi have started a clinical trial using Kevzara as a treatment for Covid-19. The FDA approved this medication for rheumatoid arthritis patients in 2017.
In fact, the drug works by “inhibiting a biological mechanism that may drive the overactive inflammatory response to COVID-19 patients’ lungs”, the companies said.
Indeed, Regeneron will manage trials in the US and Sanofi will manage the trial outside the US. They are giving Kevzara to COVID-19 patients who are hospitalized and are in critical condition from this pandemic.
Northwell Health and the Mount Sinai Health System are recruiting patients for this trial. “In my over 20 years of being a part of clinical research, we have never been able to move that quickly before,” said Christina Brennan, vice president of clinical research at Northwell Health’s Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research.
Moreover, the researchers have arranged the trial into two phases. The researchers evaluate Kevzara’s impact on fever first and patients’ need for oxygen support.
Furthermore, the clinical team will test longer-term outcomes in the second phase. Indeed, the goals include preventing death and reducing mechanical ventilation. The clinical teams will adapt the second phase based on the findings from the first phase of this trial such as dosing strength and other datapoints.
Sanofi is also testing a vaccine for Covid-19 while Regeneron is testing an antibody for Covid-19.