COVID-19, according to a small study conducted in the island nation.India's Biocon Ltd said earlier this month it received regulatory approval in India for itolizumab for use in coronavirus infected patients with moderate-to-severe respiratory distress.
It was originally tested as a treatment for psoriasis.Researchers, including from Cuba's Center of Molecular Immunology, which developed itolizumab, said timely use of the drug in combination with standard therapy helped reduce inflammation and prevented COVID-19 from worsening.The 19 hospitalized patients from a single nursing home had tested positive for the virus in April.All were older than age 64 and had chronic health conditions such as hypertension, dementia, heart disease, diabetes.