Coronavirus medicine: An arthritis drug could be the answer everyone is looking for

A decade-old drug used to treat inflammation in arthritis patients could be the answer to the world's fears of the coronavirus.

Actemra, an anti-inflammation drug made by Swiss drugmaker Roche, has been approved by the Chinese government to treat severe coronavirus symptoms. This comes at a time when countries around the world are desperately searching for ways to combat the deadly infection.

The Swiss drug maker donated nearly $2 million worth of Actemra to China, its local operations said in a blog post on Monday.

According to reports, 14 serious and critically ill patients treated with existing medicines at a hospital affiliated with the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) showed positive results.

Since Actemra's approval a decade ago, it has become the go-to drug for inflammatory conditions, including cytokine storms in cancer patients receiving cell therapy.

The Swiss company, for which China is its No. 2 market behind the United States, is also making diagnostic gear to detect the coronavirus.

Currently, there is no published clinical trial data on the drug's safety or efficacy against the virus.

More than 3,000 people have died and 93,000 have been infected by the novel coronavirus thought to have originated in Wuhan, China, before spreading to around 90 countries including the United States, Italy, Switzerland, France and Germany, and India.