Subcutaneous tocilizumab in adults with severe and critical COVID-19: A prospective open-label uncontrolled multicenter trial

[Display omitted] •Excessive inflammation leads to lung damage in complicated COVID-19 patients.•Tocilizumab, an IL-6 inhibitor, was added to the standard treatment in this study.•Comparably low mortality rate (6.98%) was observed in severe patients.•Benefits of tocilizumab were less considerable in patients with critical disease.•Appropriate timing is important in the administration of tocilizumab for COVID-19. Potential therapeutic approaches in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) comprise antiviral and immunomodulatory agents; however, no immunomodulator drug has been approved. This multicenter, prospective, open-label, uncontrolled study aimed to assess the use of subcutaneous tocilizumab in adult patients with severe and critical COVID-19. Tocilizumab was added to the standard care of therapy at a dose of 324 mg (