When that inflammatory response occurs in Covid-19 patients, cytokines are often the culprit for the severe lung damage, organ failure, blood clots or pneumonia that kills them. Based on their database, the team published the first systematic review of Covid-19 treatments in the journal Infectious Diseases and Therapy in May. First, the Covid-19 patients with more severe cytokine storms were more likely to need drugs targeted toward suppressing the immune system. One shortfall is that many of the published studies just don't have the level of rigor to inform larger-scale scientific decision-making. But in the published studies available for Fajgenbaum's team to review, the drug hasn't outperformed others.

Source: CNN June 27, 2020 12:11 UTC