JW Pharmaceutical came under limelight in the stock market upon reports that anti-inflammatory drug Actemra (tocilizumab) demonstrated effects on critically ill patients with laboratory-confirmed Covid-19.

JW Pharmaceutical holds exclusive marketing rights to the immunosuppressive drug across Korea. As of 1:40 pm, JW Pharma shares rose 2.54 percent to trade at 32,350 won ($28.6) after a nearly 9 percent jump in the morning session.

Tocilizumab is used mainly for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis.

According to overseas media reports, a research team led by David Leaf from the Division of Renal Medicine at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women’s Hospital found that there was a 30 percent relative decrease in mortality when tocilizumab was administered within the first two days of intensive care unit (ICU) admission, compared to those whose treatment did not include early use of tocilizumab.

The multicenter study used data accumulated from about 4,000 critically ill patients with Covid-19 admitted to ICUs at 68 sites across the U.S. Of the 3,924 patients included in the analysis, 433 received tocilizumab in the first two days of ICU admission. The risk of death at 30-days was 27.5 and 37.1 percent among tocilizumab-treated and non-tocilizumab-treated patients, respectively.

By Pulse

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