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March 16, 2020 "Aifa has approved the protocol of the scientific experimentation of Tolicizumab, Naples and Modena will be the leaders. We will leave with immediate priority in 10-15 days on 250 patients in Italy".

The news, pending official confirmation, was announced to Ansa by Vincenzo Montesarchio, an infectious disease specialist at the Cotugno hospital in Naples, who is working together with Paolo Ascierto, director of the Pascale clinical immunology unit, on the positive effect of the drug on Coronavirus-induced pneumonia. "Aifa has approved our testing protocol and we are excited to leave together in Modena", underlines Montesarchio.

"In Naples the experimentation - explains Montesarchio - will be coordinated by the Pascale Institute which has a high-level experimental research staff. AIFA will give us priority routes, because the virus is here and now and therefore normal times will not be followed experimentation. I would be very happy to leave in 10-15 days at the most ".

Meanwhile, the use of Tolicizumab continues in the races of the Cotugno hospital in Naples, the first line of the battle against coronavirus in Campania. "This morning - explains Montesarchio - we asked for treatment for thirty patients who are already starting".

In the meantime, monitoring continues of the 11 patients treated in Naples: "Currently - explains Paolo Ascierto - nine out of eleven patients who have been treated with Tolicizumab show clear signs of recovery. Of these 11, seven are intubated and four have marked respiratory failure in the ward. Of the 7 intubated patients, 5 patients had a significant improvement in respiratory function parameters, one is still stationary and one has died in recent days. All four patients who are critical but who are simply hospitalized in the ward have signs of clinical improvement and even one of these is no longer in intermittent oxygen therapy. Reports of efficacy of the drug continue in other centers ".

"The collaborative model of the Pascale Institute - comments the director of the Attilio Bianchi Institute - is showing its full potential on this occasion. Being cautious is a must, but also confident that the clinical study will provide further elements of evaluation".