Trial on Tocilizumab to treat COVID-19 under way - DG

Trials on the medicine, Tocilizumab to treat COVID-19 patients are ongoing, said Health Director-General Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

In confirming that the Ministry of Health Malaysia (MOH) was conducting the study with a local university, Dr Noor Hisham said he hoped the research would help MOH in curbing the COVID-19 pandemic.

"What is important is that we look at how the research is being conducted at four hospitals, if I am not mistaken, and we hope they comply with the standard operating procedures (SOPs) and the procedures for conducting the investigation," he told a daily media conference on COVID-19 here today.

Earlier, he said three drugs, namely, Chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine and the existing Lopinavir/Ritonavir combination were available in Malaysia, and which were used by MOH to treat other diseases, were found to be effective in treating COVID-19 positive patients.

Earlier, media reports stated that the University of Malaya Medical Centre (PPUM) along with three government hospitals, namely, Sungai Buloh Hospital, Kuala Lumpur Hospital and Tuanku Jaafar Seremban Hospital would begin clinical trials to find a cure for COVID-19 in mid-April.

The focus of this study is Tocilizumab which is marketed under the Actemra brand.

It was reported that, studies on Tocilizumab, previously a medicine for rheumatoid arthritis or arthritis, would focus on intravenous Tocilizumab comparison with high doses of corticosteroids on 300 severe COVID-19 patients.

Asked about the development of the COVID-19 vaccine, Dr Noor Hisham said it was still under research and expected to be completed within a year.

"Many studies have been carried out by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and several international organisations so let us together hope the vaccine can be found in a year,'' he added.

-- BERNAMA