A total of 342 COVID‐19 patients were randomly assigned to anakinra treatment (n = 112; age 56–74 years; median age 67 years; administered 100 mg anakinra once per day until day 28 or discharge) or no anakinra treatment (n = 230; age 54–72 years; median age 64 years), and simultaneously randomly assigned to IL‐6 blockade (n = 227; age 54–73 years; median age 65 years; 114 for tocilizumab: a single dose of 8 mg·kg−1 body weight, and 113 for siltuximab: a single dose of 11 mg·kg−1 body weight) or no IL‐6 blockade (n = 115; age 55–72 years; median age 64). The gene discussed is IL6; the disease is COVID-19.