UK approves world's first Covid-19 treatment after promising clinical trial

An anti-inflammatory drug has become the world’s first treatment shown to reduce the risk of death for Covid-19 patients.

Dexamethasone has been hailed as a breakthrough by the UK government and will now be part of standard treatment for Covid-19 patients requiring oxygen and ventilators.

The drug is being tested as part of the Recovery trial, with data from 2,104 patients showing that dexamethasone reduced the risk of death by 20% for those on oxygen and reduced it by 35% for ventilated patients.

The drug was initially suggested to the government by the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (NERVTAG), before being trialled through Recovery.

The findings come from Oxford University branch of the Recovery Trial, who released the data on Monday (16 June).

Peter Horby, professor of Emerging Infectious Diseases in the Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, and one of the chief investigators for the trial, said: “Dexamethasone is the first drug to be shown to improve survival in Covid-19. This is an extremely welcome result. The survival benefit is clear and large in those patients who are sick enough to require oxygen treatment, so dexamethasone should now become standard of care in these patients. Dexamethasone is inexpensive, on the shelf, and can be used immediately to save lives worldwide.”

In response to the findings, the government has said it had already secured supplies of dexamethasone in the UK in the hope of a positive trial outcome. There is reportedly enough treatment for over 200,000 people from the stockpiles alone.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: “I’m absolutely delighted that today we can announce the world’s first successful clinical trial for a treatment for Covid-19. This astounding breakthrough is testament to the incredible work being done by our scientists behind the scenes.

I want to thank the brilliant scientists at Oxford University, the thousands of patients who took part in the study, and my own team, led by Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, who has done such a brilliant job driving this work.”

Deputy chief medical officer, Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, said: "The Recovery trial is an outstanding example of the UK leading the world with an impressive study capable of delivering robust answers to critical questions. Although these data have not yet been peer-reviewed.

The positive findings on dexamethasone follow the disappointing findings on hydroxychloroquine. Together these 2 results illustrate the power of properly conducted clinical trials and the inherent danger of assuming things work without robust data. 

Whilst tempting to do otherwise, it is always better to wait for the evidence. On the dexamethasone findings, this is very encouraging because the signal on reduced mortality applies to many of the patients admitted to hospitals and the drug is comparatively low priced and available worldwide.”

The World Health Organisation (WHO) welcomed the findings, with Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general saying: “This is the first treatment to be shown to reduce mortality in patients with Covid-19 requiring oxygen or ventilator support. “This is great news and I congratulate the Government of the UK, the University of Oxford, and the many hospitals and patients in the UK who have contributed to this lifesaving scientific breakthrough.”