Covid-19: How effective are the new treatments approved by India?

On July 6, the World Health Organization approved two rheumatoid arthritis drugs, tocilizumab and sarilumab, to treat Covid-19. “These are the first drugs found to be effective against Covid-19 since corticosteroids were recommended by WHO in September 2020,” the WHO said in a press release.

Tocilizumab has been part of India’s guidelines since June 2020, as an investigational therapy for Covid-19. In May, the Indian government also approved two new Covid-19 treatments for emergency use: a monoclonal antibodies cocktail, also approved by the United States drug regulator and recommended by the European Medicines Agency and 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG), a drug only been approved by India.

Current Indian guidelines updated on May 27 recommend only paracetamol for fever for mildly ill patients, plus a few medicines to treat symptoms, such as inhalational budesonide for cough. Steroids can be used for hospitalised moderately severe and critically ill patients, whose oxygen levels fall below 92. Remdesivir is recommended, as an experimental drug, in select moderate and severe patients within 10 days of onset of the disease.

The new drugs are the first to show potential since corticosteroids started to be used for Covid-19 treatment. In addition to vaccination and precautions such as mask-wearing and physical distancing, medical treatments for Covid-19 are key to fighting the pandemic.

We examine how these drugs work…

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