Feb. 12 COVID Quick Takes: Actemra reduces mortality in RECOVERY trial; plus updates from AZ, CanSino, Celltrion, NeuroRx, CureVac and Moderna

While previous trials of Actemra tocilizumab from the Genentech Inc. unit of Roche (SIX:ROG; OTCQX:RHHBY) failed to demonstrate a survival benefit for COVID-19 patients, the U.K. RECOVERY trial found a 4% absolute reduction in mortality rate (rate ratio = 0.86, p=0.007) in hospitalized patients with severe COVID-19. Previous studies may have been underpowered, as the RECOVERY trial tested the IL-6 inhibitor in over 10 times as many patients as the studies before it. 

AZ tackling new COVID-19 variants
Although AstraZeneca plc (LSE:AZN; NASDAQ:AZN) reported a small decrease in efficacy of its COVID-19 vaccine C19VAZ (AZD1222) against symptomatic disease caused by the B.1.1.7 variant first identified in the U.K., the pharma and the University of Oxford are planning ahead to adapt the vaccine to new disease strains. The partners aim to reduce the time needed to reach production at scale to between six and nine months by utilizing existing clinical data and optimizing the supply chain...