A common asthma drug can dramatically reduce hospitalizations, symptoms and recovery time among patients with COVID-19, if taken within a week after symptoms appear, Oxford University researchers said.
Inhalation of the steroid budesonide reduced the need for urgent care or hospitalization by 90 percent when compared to the usual treatment for patients with viruses, the Reuters news agency reported on Tuesday, citing experts from Oxford.
The initial results, achieved after a 28-day study with 146 patients, showed that the volunteers recovered more quickly from fever and had less persistent symptoms when treated with the steroid.
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Budesonide is sold as Pulmicort by AstraZeneca, which together with the University of Oxford has also produced a coronavirus vaccine.
“I am excited that a relatively safe, widely available and well-studied drug … can have an impact on the pressures we are experiencing during the pandemic,” said researcher Mona Bafadhel.
The researchers were led to examine the drug more closely after realizing how few patients with chronic respiratory disease were among those hospitalized with COVID-19 in the early days of the pandemic. People who suffer from respiratory disorders usually receive inhaled steroids as treatment.
The results of the University of Oxford research have not yet been published in a peer-reviewed journal.
Video capture of a person using a Pulmicort inhaler. (You Tube)
On Thursday, AstraZeneca published figures showing that its net profit more than doubled last year, to $ 3.2 billion, with strong sales of new cancer drugs.
The update did not include any current or projected prescription for AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine, which is being launched worldwide.
However, the company said that “the biggest direct impacts of COVID-19 on the company’s portfolio” included reduced sales of the Pulmicort respiratory drug in China and less global use of injectable and infused drugs, such as Imfinzi and Fasenra.