Tocilizumab (intravenous route, subcutaneous route)

Actemra, Tofidence, Tyenne

Tocilizumab injection is used alone or together with other medicines to reduce the signs and symptoms of moderate to severe active rheumatoid arthritis. This medicine helps keep joint damage from getting worse after other medicines (eg, adalimumab, etanercept, infliximab) have been used and did not work well. It is a monoclonal antibody. Tocilizumab injection is also used alone or together with glucocorticoids (steroid medicine) to treat giant cell arteritis (inflammation of the arteries). It can be used alone after stopping treatment with glucocorticoids. Tocilizumab injection is also used to slow the rate of decline in lung function in patients with systemic sclerosis-associated interstitial lung disease (SSc-ILD). Tocilizumab injection is also used alone or together with methotrexate to treat polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis (PJIA) and systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (SJIA) in children 2 years of age and older. It is also used to treat severe or life-threatening cytokine release syndrome (CRS) in adults and children 2 years of age and older. Tocilizumab injection is also used to treat coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in hospitalized patients who are receiving systemic corticosteroids and requiring supplemental oxygen and mechanical ventilation. This medicine is available only with your doctor's prescription. This product is available in the following dosage forms:

In deciding to use a medicine, the risks of taking the medicine must be weighed against the good it will do. This is a decision you and your doctor will make. For this medicine, the following should be considered: Tell your doctor if you have ever had any unusual or allergic reaction to this medicine or any other medicines. Also tell your health care professional if you have any other types of allergies, such as to foods, dyes, preservatives, or animals. For non-prescription products, read the label or package ingredients carefully. Appropriate studies performed to date have not demonstrated pediatric-specific problems that would limit the usefulness of tocilizumab injection in children 2 years of age and older withPJIA,SJIA, andCRS. However, safety and efficacy have not been established for other conditions and in children younger than 2 years of age withPJIA,SJIA, andCRS. Appropriate studies performed to date have not demonstrated geriatric-specific problems that would limit the usefulness of tocilizumab injection in the elderly. However, elderly patients are more likely to have serious infections, which may require caution in patients receiving tocilizumab injection. There are no adequate studies in women for determining infant risk when using this medication during breastfeeding. Weigh the potential benefits against the potential risks before taking this medication while breastfeeding. Although certain medicines should not be used together at all, in other cases two different medicines may be used together even if an interaction might occur. In these cases, your doctor may want to change the dose, or other precautions may be necessary. When you are taking this medicine, it is especially important that your healthcare professional know if you are taking any of the medicines listed below. The following interactions have been selected on the basis of their potential significance and are not necessarily all-inclusive. Using this medicine with any of the following medicines is usually not recommended, but may be required in some cases. If both medicines are prescribed together, your doctor may change the dose or how often you use one or both of the medicines. Certain medicines should not be used at or around the time of eating food or eating certain types of food since interactions may occur. Using alcohol or tobacco with certain medicines may also cause interactions to occur. Discuss with your healthcare professional the use of your medicine with food, alcohol, or tobacco. The presence of other medical problems may affect the use of this medicine. Make sure you tell your doctor if you have any other medical problems, especially: