How south Wales helped develop coronavirus drug

THIS week scientists announced that a widely available and “extremely cheap” drug will play a significant role in saving the lives of people with coronavirus, writes Mark Smith.

Dexamethasone, a low-dose steroid treatment used to reduce inflammation, has been found to reduce deaths in patients with severe respiratory complications.

It is the first known drug to reduce mortality rates and has been hailed the “biggest breakthrough yet” in the fight against the virus.

The steroid was found to have a beneficial effect following an extensive clinical trial, led by a team from Oxford University, which involved 2,000 hospital patients across the UK.

They discovered that dexamethasone reduced deaths by a third in ventilated patients, and by a fifth in other patients receiving oxygen.

During a press conference on Tuesday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson singled out praise for the “people of Cardiff” for volunteering in huge numbers to take part in the trial.

“A big shout out and a big thank you to the people of Cardiff for their volunteering,” he said.

He added: “I am proud of these British scientists who 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.”

Cardiff and Vale University Health Board was the first in the UK to open the Recovery (Randomised Evaluation of Covid-19 Therapy) trial.

More than 180 patients enrolled at the University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff, and University Hospital Llandough.

Based on the results, the drug would prevent one death of approximately eight patients on ventilators, and one of around 25 patients on oxygen.

The health board confirmed that a 10-day treatment of dexamethasone will cost approximately £5 per patient.

Professor Chris Fegan, principal investigator for the Recovery study at Cardiff and Vale UHB, said: “As the first health board in the UK to open the Recovery trial, we are delighted with these really promising results.

“Identifying an inexpensive and widely available drug as an effective treatment for some of the most unwell patients with Covid-19 is a really exciting development which will hopefully save the lives of many people worldwide.

“We are proud to be one of the leading recruiters to this study, which is down in no small part to the huge collaborative effort between clinical teams, ward staff and the research team here at Cardiff and Vale.”

Dexamethasone is already used to reduce inflammation in a range of other conditions, including asthma, arthritis and some skin conditions. It also appears to help stop some of the damage that can happen when the body’s immune system goes into overdrive as it tries to fight off Covid-19.

The Recovery trial is one of several Cardiff and Vale UHB has been delivering to find effective treatments for patients in response to the pandemic.

Its executive medical director, Dr Stuart Walker, said: “I would like to commend the efforts of the teams at Cardiff and Vale that have implemented this trial so proactively, playing a key role in contributing to this exciting breakthrough.

“We have already adjusted our treatment guidelines to incorporate the findings of the Recovery trial so that as many Cardiff and Vale patients as possible can benefit from the treatment.”

While Cardiff and Vale UHB was the first to administer this drug on its patients, six other Welsh health boards also took part in the Welsh arm of the Recovery trial co-ordinated by Health and Care Research Wales.

It is understood the NHS has 240,000 doses of dexamethasone “in stock and on order” to give to coronavirus patients across the UK.