Scientists at the University of Oxford claimed on Tuesday that a cheap and widely available drug might be the first life-saving treatment for severe cases of COVID-19.

According to a report by BBC, the team of researchers found that dexamethasone, a common steroid, could help improve survival outcomes in patients affected with the coronavirus. The drug reduces inflammation, which helps protect the tissues. In the study, dexamethasone saved one in every eight patients on a ventilator, and one in every 25 with oxygen. 

However, the drug was not given to patients in other hospitals or healthcare facilities. It also does not appear to treat people with milder symptoms of the virus. 

While hospitals in the United Kingdom began treating severely ill patients with the steroid, health experts in the United States demanded to see the data which has not yet been published, the New York Times reports. 

Dexamethasone Uses

The steroid, which is usually prescribed orally or intravenously, acts as an anti-inflammatory and anti-swelling drug used to treat multiple conditions-including arthritis, immune system disorders, allergic reactions, skin and eye condition, and cancers.

What are the complications?

Despite improving the chances of survival in severe COVID-19 patients, medical experts warn patients who do not have severe symptoms to avoid taking dexamethasone after early findings show it may also hinder the body's ability to fight the virus. 

An infectious disease doctor at Yale, Dr Onyema Ogbuagu, noted that some studies found higher risks of death in people who use steroids, as reported by USA Today. In general, the drug may also cause new or worsening diabetes, psychosis, and emotional disturbance. 

Other Trials

Aside from the dexamethasone trial, scientists at Imperial College London are also set to start giving experimental COVID-19 vaccine shots to 300 healthy volunteers over the coming weeks. The study, which was funded by the U.K government and other philanthropic donations, is the first time the vaccine has been tried in humans. 

The trial will test the human body's response to the treatment and the drug's effectiveness at preventing healthy individuals from being infected by COVID-19. If the study yields promising results, then a more extensive trial involving 6,000 health volunteers will begin later in the year. 

Sanofi, a French multinational pharmaceutical company, is also working on a vaccine that may be used in a clinical trial this year. An article by Fierce Pharma revealed the French drugmaker spent $554 million to build a vaccine manufacturing facility it dubbed Sanfi's Evolutive Vaccine Facility (EVF). 

The facility will help the company to manufacture doses of three or four different vaccines at one time. The capacity will help supply the French drugmaker's unit in case of future pandemics. It will also employ multiple modular facilities that could produce multiple vaccines simultaneously and quickly switch to mono-production should another epidemic occur. The EVF will be built over five years and will employ over 200 people. 

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