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Asthma drug budesonide shortens recovery time in non-hospitalised patients with COVID-19

Clinical Trials Coronavirus COVID-19 Research

Inhaled budesonide, a common corticosteroid, is the first widely available, inexpensive drug found to shorten recovery times in COVID-19 patients aged over 50 who are treated at home and in other community settings, reports the PRINCIPLE trial in 1,779 participants.

Graphic of lungs, a chemical structure diagram of budesonide, and a budesonide inhaler © Shutterstock

Early treatment with inhaled budesonide shortens recovery time by a median of three days in patients with COVID-19 who are at higher risk of more severe illness and are treated in the community, finds Oxford University’s Platform Randomised Trial of Interventions against COVID-19 in Older People (PRINCIPLE) trial.

PRINCIPLE is the world’s largest Phase 3 platform randomised controlled trial to find clear evidence of an effective COVID-19 treatment for use in the community that can significantly shorten recovery time. As one of the UK Government’s national priority platform trials, findings from PRINCIPLE have potential to change how COVID-19 is treated in its early stages in non-hospital, community settings in the UK and internationally.

Read the full news article on the PRINCIPLE trial website

This story is also featured on the University of Oxford website.

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