'BIGGEST BREAKTHROUGH YET'
£5 wonder drug dexamethasone that ‘cuts risk of coronavirus death by THIRD in sickest patients’ now available on NHS
A COMMON drug that costs just £5 and can slash the risk of dying from coronavirus by a third is now available on the NHS.
Dexamethasone - a widely available steroid - has been hailed the "biggest breakthrough yet" and is the first treatment shown to improve survival against Covid-19.
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Prime Minister Boris Johnson tonight praised the Oxford University experts who led the "biggest clinical trial in the world" - hailing the breakthrough a "genuine cause for celebration".
It will now be given to all Covid-19 patients in hospital, who require oxygen including those on ventilators - a move the Department of Health say will save thousands of lives.
One patient Pete Herring, 69, today told The Sun that the drug "saved his life" after he was admitted to a hospital in Cambridge with Covid-19 in April.
Medics behind the RECOVERY trial - the largest globally testing potential Covid therapies - claim their results are "jaw-dropping".
They found it cut the risk of death by 35 per cent for patients on ventilators, and for those on oxygen support, it reduced mortality by 20 per cent.
Experts say that if the cheap drug had been available at the start of the pandemic, up to 5,000 Brit lives would have been saved.
Ministers have tonight ordered the immediate roll out of the drug to all high risk cases across the NHS.
PM's pride
Speaking at the daily Downing Street briefing, the Prime Minister said: "I’m absolutely delighted that the biggest breakthrough yet has been made by a fantastic team of scientists here in the UK.
"I am proud they have led the first robust clinical trial anywhere in the world to find a coronavirus treatment proven to reduce the risk of death.
"I’m very grateful to the thousands of patients in this country who volunteered for the trials.
"This drug, dexamethasone, can now be made available across the NHS.
"We’ve taken steps to ensure we have enough supplies even in the event of a second peak.
"While the chances of dying from Covid-19 have been greatly reduced by this treatment, they’re still far too high, so we must redouble our research efforts - and we certainly will.
"But today there is genuine cause to celebrate a genuinely remarkable scientific treatment, not just in this country but around the world."
Grandad, 69, claims £5 wonder drug dexamethasone saved his life as Covid ravaged his lungs leaving him gasping for air
GRANDAD-of-two Pete Herring claims £5 wonder drug dexamethasone “almost certainly saved my life”.
The 69-year-old was rushed to hospital gasping for air as Covid took a heavy toll on his breathing.
He was so unwell, his partner had to dial NHS 111 and speak to the operator on his behalf.
Within hours of arriving at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge in late April, the former John Lewis manager was placed on oxygen support in intensive care.
As his breathing worsened, he volunteered to take part in the RECOVERY trial and was lucky enough to be given dexamethasone.
Mr Herring, from Ely in Cambs, claims the treatment saved his life.
Speaking to The Sun, he said: “When I went into hospital, my breathing was pretty bad and the doctors put me on oxygen.
“I was quite worried, as I have type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure, and had bowel cancer 15 years ago, so I was high risk.
“The team said I was 24-hours away from being placed on ventilation, and nobody wants that.
“The treatment saved my life. I can’t say for certain, but my breathing was getting worse and then I turned the corner."
Five days later Mr Herring was out of intensive care and was back at home.
“I am feeling absolutely wonderful now. I have bounced back and am full of energy.
“I cannot thank the team at Addenbrooke’s Hospital enough. The standard of care was second to none.
“I didn’t think twice about taking part in the trial and said yes straight away.
If you can help others in a similar position, then you absolutely should.
“I am glad I did it. I feel incredibly lucky I was given dexamethasone. I am pretty certain that it made a difference to my outcome.
“And the overall results of the trial are pretty amazing. I am over the moon that they are now rolling out use of the drug across the country.”
Professor Peter Horby, a University of Oxford academic who has led the dexamethasone trial, said his team's efforts had "broken records".
Speaking at No10, he said: "In three months, we have enrolled over 11,500 patients and this makes it by far the biggest clinical trial in the world."
He said the majority of patients being treated in hospital for coronavirus were likely to benefit from the study into dexamethosone, after conducting a trial comparing 2,000 people being treated with the drug and 4,000 without.
Prof Horby added: "What we saw was really quite remarkable.
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"In ventilated patients with Covid-19, the drug dexamethosone - so 10 days of treatment with that, which is a tablet or injection - reduces the risk of death by about 35 per cent.
"In patients on the ward who require oxygen and have Covid, it reduces the risk of death by about 20 per cent - that covers about 75 per cent of patients in hospital who will see a mortality benefit from using this drug."
Recovery trial
More than 11,500 patients from 175 NHS hospitals have been enrolled on the Recovery trial since it was set up in March to test a range of potential coronavirus treatments.
In the dexamethasone study, 2,104 patients received 6mg of dexamethasone once a day by mouth or intravenous injection for 10 days.
Their outcomes were compared with a control group of 4,321 patients.
Over a 28-day period, the mortality rate among patients requiring ventilation was 41 per cent, and for those needing oxygen it was 25 per cent.
Among those not requiring respiratory intervention the figure was 13 per cent.
The study revealed the steroid reduced deaths by a third in ventilated patients and a fifth in people needing oxygen.
There was no change in deaths among patients who did not require respiratory support.
This is the only drug that has so far shown to reduce mortality, and it reduces it significantly
Peter Horby
Peter Horby, professor of emerging infectious diseases at the university's Nuffield Department of Medicine, and one of the chief investigators for the trial, described it as "an extremely welcome result".
"This is the only drug that has so far shown to reduce mortality, and it reduces it significantly. It is a major breakthrough, I think," he said.
"Dexamethasone is inexpensive, on the shelf, and can be used immediately to save lives worldwide."
He said an alert had gone out to all NHS trusts to give suitable Covid patients the drug with immediate effect.
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Martin Landray, professor of medicine and epidemiology at the Nuffield Department of Population Health, and another chief investigator, said: "Covid-19 is a global disease - it is fantastic that the first treatment demonstrated to reduce mortality is one that is instantly available and affordable worldwide.
"It's been around for probably 60 years.
"It costs in the order of £5… for a complete course of treatment in the NHS, and substantially less - probably less than one dollar - in other parts of the world, for example in India."
Many of the sickest Covid victims see their immune system go into overdrive, leading to damaging inflammation.
It costs in the order of £5… for a complete course of treatment in the NHS
Martin Landray
Medics think low-dose dexamethasone helps protect the lungs and reduce the severity of disease.
NHS Chief Executive Sir Simon Stevens said: "NHS hospitals, researchers and clinicians have worked together at breakneck speed to test new treatments for Covid-19, and it is amazing to see work that would normally take years bear fruit in just a matter of months.
“This research agility is not only important for coronavirus patients, but augurs well for the streamlined innovation that the NHS and the UK life sciences now must pioneer."
'Huge breakthrough'
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: "I am absolutely delighted that today we can announce the world's first successful clinical trial for at treatment for Covid-19.
"This astounding breakthrough is testament to the incredible work being done by scientists behind the scenes.
"From today the standard treatment for Covid-19 will include dexamethasone, helping save thousands of lives while we deal with this terrible virus.
“Because we spotted the early signs of the potential of dexamethasone we’ve been stockpiling it since March.
"So we now have 200,000 courses ready to go and we’re working with the NHS so that the NHS-standard treatment for Covid-19 will include dexamethasone from this afternoon.”
Professor Stephen Powis, NHS medical director added: “This is a huge breakthrough in our search for new ways to successfully treat patients with covid, both in the UK and across the world.
"It is thanks to NHS staff and patients who participated in the trial that from now, we are able to use this drug to dramatically improve Covid-19 survival for people in hospital who require oxygen or ventilation.”
British scientists will start to test another possible coronavirus vaccine on human volunteers this week.
But so far there are currently no approved treatments or vaccines for Covid-19, which has killed more than 431,000 globally including more than 41,000 in the UK.
Dr Nick Cammack, whose in charge of fast-tracking Covid-19 Therapeutics at the Wellcome Trust, said: “This is a major breakthrough.
"Dexamethasone is the first and only drug that has made a significant difference to patient mortality for Covid-19.
"Potentially preventing 1 death in every 8 ventilated patients would be remarkable.
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"While this study suggests dexamethasone only benefits severe cases, countless lives will be saved globally."
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He added: "It is highly affordable, easy to make, can be scaled up quickly and only needs a small dosage.
"Any and every successful treatment against Covid-19 must be made available to everyone who needs it globally, regardless of their ability to pay."
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Matt Hancock celebrates successful trial of £5 wonder drug dexamethasone which ‘cuts risk of coronavirus death by THIRD in sickest patients’
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