I'm only peripherally aware of this thread and don't know if this drug has been discussed a lot in it, but I thought maybe this memo I got would be of interest to ya'all.
(I'm a doc that takes care of covid patient - lots of 'em lately unfortunately)
MEMO:
This past week, Roche Pharmaceuticals, the manufacturers of Tocilizumab (Actemra), released an
update on the Phase III COVACTA trial of Actemra in hospitalized patients with severe COVID-19
associated pneumonia. The following is a summary of the information provided in this update:
 Primary endpoint not met: The difference in clinical status between Actemra and placebo in
patients assessed using a 7-category ordinal scale at week four was not statistically significant
(p=0.36; odds ratio [95% CI] = 1.19 [0.81, 1.76], a statistically significant odds ratio greater than
1 would have favored Actemra).
 There was no difference between Actemra and placebo in the percentage of patients that died
by week four (Actemra = 19.7% and placebo = 19.4% with a difference [95% CI] of 0.3% [-
7.6%, 8.2%], p=0.9410)
 Time to hospital discharge or ‘ready to discharge’ was shorter in patients treated with Actemra
than in those treated with placebo. The median time to discharge or ‘ready to discharge’ for
Actemra was 20 days and for placebo was 28 days (median time [95% CI]: Actemra = 20.0
[17.0, 27.0]; placebo = 28.0 [20.0, NE], p=0.0370). However, the difference cannot be
considered statistically significant as the primary endpoint was not met.
 The difference in ventilator-free days between Actemra and placebo was not statistically
significant (median of 22 days for Actemra and 16.5 days with placebo, difference in medians
[95% CI] = 5.5 [-2.8, 13.0], p=0.3202).
 At week four, rates of infections were 38.3% and 40.6% in the Actemra and placebo arms,
respectively, and the rates of serious infections were 21.0% and 25.9% in the Actemra and
placebo arms, respectively. The COVACTA study did not identify any new safety signals for
Actemra
In this major trial, Actemra did not meet its primary endpoint of improved clinical status nor its secondary
endpoint of reduced patient mortality in the studied patient population. Based on this compelling data,
it is the recommendation that this medication no longer be used in our patient population for the
treatment of COVID-19. Effective immediately, its use for this indication will be prohibited