A drug being used to fight coronavirus seemingly cured 90% of patients in a groundbreaking trial – with work now under way to make it widely available worldwide.

The COVID-19 patients were diagnosed as severe or critical at two separate hospitals in the eastern province of Anhui in China.

They were given the drug tocilizumab along with routine therapy between February 5 and February 14.

If analysis into the trial confirms it to be truly effective, it could have profound consequences for mankind in helping to tackle the worldwide pandemic.

Tocilizumab, otherwise known as Actemra and produced by the Swiss pharmaceutical firm Roche, is typically used to combat arthritis.

The patients were given the drug tocilizumab along with routine therapy between February 5 and February 14

After just a few days, the patients’ fever returned to normal and all other symptoms improved.

Fifteen of the 20 patients involved in the trial were able to have their oxygen intake lowered, and 19 were discharged on average 13.5 days after the treatment.

The study concludes: “Tocilizumab is an effective treatment in severe patients of COVID-19, which provided a new therapeutic strategy for this fatal infectious disease.”

Tocilizumab helps lower high Interleukin 6 (IL-6) protein levels which drive some inflammatory diseases.

Genetech, a biotechnology company based in the US, is now launching a trial to assess whether tocilizumab can be used to treat adults in America – the country with the 3rd highest deaths – with severe COVID-19.

Tocilizumab, otherwise known as Actemra and produced by the Swiss pharmaceutical firm Roche, is typically used to combat arthritis

It will involve approximately 330 patients worldwide who will be tracked for 60 days, with recruitment set to begin in early April.

Genentech’s chief medical officer Levi Garraway said: “We are initiating a clinical trial to study Actemra for the treatment of people hospitalized with COVID-19 pneumonia, so that we can better establish the potential role for Actemra in fighting this disease.

“In these unprecedented times, today’s announcement is an important example of how industry and regulators can collaborate quickly to address the COVID-19 pandemic, and we will share the results as soon as possible.”

In China, researchers are testing the drug in a clinical trial which will include 188 patients and run until May 10.

Last Friday, the World Health Organisation (WHO) announced a global trial called SOLIDARITY to repurpose drugs which might help contain the virus.

If analysis into the trial confirms it to be truly effective, it could have profound consequences for mankind

In New York, health officials are planning to collect blood plasma from people who have recovered from coronavirus and inject the fluid into other patients.

The US state's governor Andrew Cuomo announced two experimental medical interventions – the blood plasma transfusions, and another involving antibody testing in order to send survivors back to work.

He told reporters: “There have been tests that show when a person is injected with the antibodies, that then stimulates and promotes their immune system against that disease.

"It's only a trial. It's a trial for people who are in a serious condition, but the New York State Department of Health has been working on this with some of New York's best health care agencies, and we think it shows promise, and we're going to be starting that this week."