- Title: FDA approves Genentech's drug to fight COVID-19-related pneumonia
- Date: 23rd March 2020
- Summary: SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (MARCH 23, 2020) (REUTERS VIA GOOGLE HANGOUTS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) GENENTECH, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER AND HEAD OF GLOBAL PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT, LEVI GARRAWAY, M.D., PH.D., SAYING: "It's a big deal because the pneumonia that patients with COVID-19 get, that is really the biggest risk of death, and there's no treatment for that pneumonia. So, we need to understand whether or not Actemra might work for patients with this pneumonia. But in order to do that, we have to study it rigorously. We have to be able to understand, does it work at all, in which patients might it work, and when should we use it in those patients? We don't know the answer to those questions. So, we need to do the clinical trial, but also we need to partner with the FDA and with the government, both here in the United States and around the world, to make sure that we provide at Actemra as it might be needed in this pandemic. So, really, we're doing both of those things today. We're studying and we're providing so that governments, and the U.S. government in particular, can decide how best to deploy it in this pandemic."
- Embargoed: 6th April 2020 22:22
- Keywords: Actemra Genentech Global Product Development Levi Garraway Roche Group U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) clinical trial
- Location: SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES
- City: SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES
- Country: USA
- Topics: Company News Markets,Economic Events
- Reuters ID: LVA002C69XMBR
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) approved clinical trial of Genentech's Actemra on Monday (March 23).
Actemra is being tested for use to care for hospitalized adult patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia.
Additionally, Genentech said would provide 10,000 vials of Actemra to the U.S. Strategic National Stockpile for potential future use at the direction of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
(Production: Aleksandra Michalska) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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