Tocilizumab therapy reduced intensive care unit admissions and/or mortality in COVID-19 patients.

Abstract Introduction No therapy has yet proven effective in COVID-19. Tocilizumab (TCZ) in patients with severe COVID-19 could be an effective treatment. Method We conducted a retrospective case-control study in the Nord Franche-Comte Hospital, France. We compared the outcome of patients treated with TCZ and patients without TCZ considering a combined primary endpoint: death and/or ICU admissions. Results Patients with TCZ (n = 20) had a higher Charlson comorbidity index (5.3 [±2.4] vs 3.4 [±2.6], P = 0.014), presented with more severe forms (higher level of oxygen therapy at 13 L/min vs 6 L/min, P  Conclusion Despite the small sample size and retrospective nature of the work, this result strongly suggests that TCZ may reduce the number of ICU admissions and/or mortality in patients with severe SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia.