The World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday recommended interleukin-6 receptor blockers for people with severe COVID-19 and urged its producers to join efforts to rapidly increase access to the drugs.

The WHO said in a press release that the move is based on the findings from a prospective and living network meta-analysis initiated by the WHO, the largest such analysis on the drugs to date.

These are the first drugs found to be effective against COVID-19 since corticosteroids were recommended by WHO in September 2020.

"Patients severely or critically ill with COVID-19 often suffer from an overreaction of the immune system, which can be very harmful to the patient's health. Interleukin-6 blocking drugs – tocilizumab and sarilumab – act to suppress this overreaction," the WHO said.

It said the prospective and living network meta-analysis showed that in severely or critically ill patients administering the drugs the odds of death are cut by 13 percent compared to standard care.

This means that there will be 15 fewer deaths per thousand patients, and as many as 28 fewer deaths for every thousand critically ill patients, WHO said.

In addition, by using the drugs the odds of mechanical ventilation among severe and critical patients are reduced by 28 percent, which translates to 23 fewer patients out of 1,000 needing mechanical ventilation.

To increase access and affordability of these life-saving products, the WHO calls on manufacturers to reduce prices and make supplies available to low-and middle-income countries, especially where COVID-19 is surging.

Experts have cited that tocilizumab belongs to the class of drugs called monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) that are used in the treatment of various diseases including cancers, and has been priced extremely high and less accessible in low-and middle-income countries.

Another mAb recommended by WHO today, sarilumab, is under wide patent protection globally, raising immediate challenges of ensuring uninterrupted production and supply, MSF said.