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LONDON (Reuters) – Britain has increased the amount of dexamethasone it has in stock and on order to 240,000 doses, health minister Matt Hancock said on Wednesday, after a preliminary trial result showed it reduced mortality in the most severe COVID-19 cases.
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Britain swiftly backed the steroid drug after University of Oxford researchers announced preliminary results of their trial on Tuesday, saying it had amassed a stockpile of 200,000 courses of the drug.
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“It\\\’s the first time that anyone in the world has clinically proven that a drug can improve the survival chances of the most seriously ill coronavirus patients,” Hancock told parliament.
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“As of today, we have 240,000 doses now in stock and on order. And this means that the treatment is immediately available and already in use on the NHS (National Health Service).”
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(Reporting by Alistair Smout; editing by Stephen Addison)
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