EU drug agency recommends approving COVID-19 treatment

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The European Union’s drugs agency has recommended approving the use of an anti-inflammatory medicine to treat adults hospitalized with severe COVID-19. The European Medicines Agency decision Monday has to be confirmed by the E.U.’s executive commission. It extends the use of the drug RoActemra, made by Swiss pharmaceuticals giant Roche, that is currently used to treat forms of arthritis. The EMA says it can now also be used on adult COVID-19 patients who are being treated with corticosteroids and require supplemental oxygen or mechanical ventilation. The drug, given through an IV, tamps down a protein called interleukin-6 that’s often found in excess in COVID-19 patients.