Kenya starts Covid-19 drug trials

Actemra drug being tried to treat Covid-19. [Courtesy, Standard]

Kenya is one of two African countries that have started clinical trials for a drug that might be the cure to coronavirus that has caused thousands of deaths globally in addition to an economic meltdown.

The study whose results are expected in three months’ time will evaluate the efficacy and safety of Roche’s medicine Actemra (tocilizumab) in the treatment of Covid-19 associated pneumonia in hospitalised patients was initiated by Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, in the United States in May 2020. The trial has now expanded to other sites in South Africa, Kenya, Brazil, Mexico and Peru.