Tocilizumab is a recombinant humanized monoclonal antibody IL-6 receptor inhibitor used to treat inflammatory and autoimmune conditions. It was first described in the literature in 2003 when Chugai, a subsidiary of Roche began developing IL-6 inhibiting monoclonal antibodies. Tocilizumab was granted FDA approval on 8 January 2010 to treat a number of inflammatory and autoimmune disorders, such as different types of arthritis and cytokine release syndrome. It was later approved by Health Canada on 30 April 2010. After being investigated to treat severely ill patients with COVID-19, tocilizumab was approved by the European Commission in December 2021 to treat COVID-19 in adults receiving systemic corticosteroids and supplemental oxygen or mechanical ventilation. Subsequently, it was granted approval by Health Canada and the FDA in October and December 2022, respectively. Tocilizumab-bavi, a biosimilar drug, was approved by the FDA in September 2023.
Tocilizumab is indicated to treat moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis, giant cell arteritis, systemic sclerosis-associated interstitial lung disease, polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis, systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis, and cytokine release syndrome.
Tocilizumab is also used to treat coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in adults who are receiving systemic corticosteroids and require supplemental oxygen, mechanical ventilation, or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO).
Qena faculty medicine, Qinā, Egypt
Pak Emirates Military Hospital, Rawalpindi, Punjab, Pakistan
University of Chicago Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, United States
CH Andrée Rosemon, Cayenne, French Guiana
Hospital Universitario Rey Juan Carlos, Móstoles, Madrid, Spain
Hospital Universitario Marqués Valdecilla, Santander, Cantabria, Spain
Hospital Clínic i Provincial Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
Queen's Medical Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, United States
Hospital Universitario de Bellvitge, Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain
Baylor Scott & White Medical Center - Irving, Irving, Texas, United States
Hospital Nossa Senhora das Graças; Setor de Pesquisa em Neurologia, Curitiba, PR, Brazil
Uniwersytecki Szpital Kliniczny; Klinika Hematologii, Terapii Komórkowych i Chorób Wewn?trznych, Wroc?aw, Poland
University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, United States
Community Cancer Institute (CCI), Fresno, California, United States
HCOR -Hospital do Coracao, Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil
Beneficência Portuguesa de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
UNIFESP, São Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, New York, United States
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