Kenya has launched its first clinical drug trial which will see Roche’s rheumatoid arthritis drug studied on 11 Covid-19 patients hospitalised with moderate symptoms of the disease. The experimental study, which was launched in Aga Khan University Hospital in Nairobi, will be completed in October and will see the drug known as Actemra studied on its own and not as a combination with other drugs. “This is a watershed moment for Kenya and us at the Aga Khan University Hospital that we can participate in an international clinical trial that is testing the effectiveness of this novel drug on our patients here,” said Dr Reena Shah, associate professor of medicine in infectious diseases, and principal investigator of the study in Kenya.