UTHealth joins trial of arthritis drug’s effect on COVID-19-induced cytokine storm
A drug is being studied for its effectiveness in treating a type of severe immune overreaction seen in patients with COVID-19-induced pneumonia by researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth). The clinical trial is enrolling patients at Harris Health System’s Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital.
The Phase III, multisite, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study is evaluating the effectiveness of the drug canakinumab, an interleukin-1 (IL-1) blocker approved for the treatment of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, for preventing cytokine release syndrome (CRS) in COVID-19 patients with pneumonia.
June 22, 2020