Description
Description
What is RoActemra (tocilizumab) for?
RoActemra (tocilizumab) is a medication indicated for the treatment of:
- adults with severe rheumatoid arthritis that is getting worse in patients who have not been previously treated with a medicine called methotrexate;
- adults with moderate to severe active rheumatoid arthritis whose previous treatments with disease modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs), such as methotrexate or medicines known as tumour necrosis factor (TNF) blockers, have not worked well or were not tolerated;
- children from 1 year of age with active systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis in whom other treatments (with anti-inflammatory medicines called NSAIDs and corticosteroids) have not worked well enough;
- children from 2 years of age with juvenile idiopathic polyarthritis in whom treatment with methotrexate has not worked well enough.
- COVID-19 in adults who are receiving systemic corticosteroids and require supplemental oxygen or mechanical ventilation.
It is used in combination with methotrexate for these conditions but it can be used on its own in patients in whom methotrexate did not work well enough.
It is available in vial form for injection each containing 20 mg/ml 400 mg of tocilizumab.
It is approved by the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA), USA, under the brand-name Actemra.
