Efficacy and safety of tocilizumab versus standard care/placebo in patients with COVID-19; a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials.Br J Clin Pharmacol. 2022 05; 88(5):1955-1963.BJ
AIMS
Tocilizumab has emerged as an important therapy in treating patients with coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Our purpose was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of tocilizumab versus standard care/placebo in patients with COVID-19.
METHODS
We searched a variety of sources from 1 January 2020 to 5 May 2021. All randomized controlled trials that reported tocilizumab efficacy as a primary agent in COVID-19 patients were considered. RCTs had to include mortality events, incidence of mechanical ventilation and serious adverse events. Two reviewers were independently responsible for data extraction. Assessment of bias and certainty of evidence was carried out using the Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool and GRADE methodology. RR for mortality events was evaluated using a fixed-effects model.
RESULTS
A total of 6837 patients were included from 10 RCTs, of which nine were peer-reviewed. Pooled risk ratio (RR) for all-cause mortality in patients with tocilizumab administration was RR = 0.88 (95% CI: 0.81-0.95, P = .0009). RR for incidence of mechanical ventilation at 28-30 days was 0.79 (95% CI: 0.71-0.88). Serious adverse events (SAE) with tocilizumab use were associated with lower RR (RR = 0.91, 95% CI: 0.76-1.09) but the certainty of evidence was downgraded to moderate due to serious risk of bias.
CONCLUSION
In COVID-19 patients with moderate to critical COVID-19, use of tocilizumab reduces all-cause mortality and progression to mechanical ventilation. This efficacy was not associated with higher number of serious adverse events.
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