Roche (SWX:ROG) has won World Health Organization (WHO) prequalification for Actemra/RoActemra.
Actemra/RoActemra is an anti-interleukin-6 receptor (aIL-6R) receptor antagonist with tocilizumab as an active substance.
The prequalification will assist in low- and middle-income countries in procuring the therapy for patients on systemic corticosteroids who require supplemental oxygen or mechanical ventilation.
Actemra/RoActemra is the twelfth medicine to win prequalification.
“We’ve partnered with WHO and others throughout the last year to ensure that our COVID-19 medicines and tests can potentially reach more than 100 low- and middle-income countries, and WHO’s prequalification of Actemra/RoActemra is just one of the paths taken together to achieve this,” said Bill Anderson, CEO of Roche Pharmaceuticals, in a news release.
Roche will provide Actemra/RoActemra to WHO and partners at cost.
The company also said it would not assert its p…