A UK wide drug trial, involving Addenbrooke's patients, has discovered another life-saving drug to help those ill with Covid.
For the last eighteen months, the Recovery trial has been testing existing medications on Covid patients to see if they help.
This has included the anti-inflammatory baricitinib, normally used to treat rheumatoid arthritis.
Today's results suggest the drug can cut the risk of death by about a fifth in patients needing hospital care for severe Covid.
It could also be used with other Covid treatments, such as the cheap steroid dexamethasone, to save even more lives, researchers say.
I knew that no matter what happened to me, I was doing something positive to help others.
Mark Rivvers, CUH Covid patient
With more than 47,000 participants across the UK, the Recovery trial is the biggest study of Covid treatments in the world.
This has included more than 200 patients treated on Covid wards at Cambridge University Hospitals (CUH).
One of those enrolled to take baricitinib was Mark Rivvers, from Cambridge. He said:
"I was in hospital for almost a month, mostly in an intensive-care unit.
"Everything in my body seemed to be fighting against everything else.
"I was on almost constant respiratory support, I developed sepsis, and I had pneumonia all across my lungs.
"But I saw it as my duty to take part in the Recovery trial because I knew that no matter what happened to me, I was doing something positive to help others.
"I'm really pleased about the result with baricitinib and hope that it can now be used to benefit many others."
I’m very proud of the significant contribution of CUH to this trial.
Dr Martin Knolle, principle investigator, CUH
Dr Martin Knolle is leading the Recovery trial at CUH and said:
"I’m very proud of the significant contribution of CUH to this trial with a continued track record of delivering new treatments for patients with COVID.
"We have recruited more than 200 patients and are still actively recruiting.
"I am extremely grateful to our patient volunteers and the whole team supporting the trial."
Although vaccines have been doing a great job at cutting infections and protecting lives, some people will still catch and become very sick with Covid.
The Recovery trial has already identified a number of treatments that work against Covid, dexamethasone, tocilizumab and a treatment called Ronapreve.
These discoveries have changed clinical practice worldwide and been credited with saving hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of lives, experts say.
This trial proves once again how research and hospital care can work together to achieve life-saving results
Professor Charlotte Summers, intensive care specialist at CUH
Charlotte Summers is a professor of intensive care medicine at the University of Cambridge and CUH. She was also on the advisory panel who recommended that baricitinib be studied as part of Recovery trial. She said:
“Yet again this practice changing result from the Recovery trial highlights the importance of ensuring research is embedded in the clinical care of acutely ill patients.
"At CUH we are delighted to have contributed to delivering the best care for our patients, by recruiting Mr Rivvers and many others into clinical trials during the pandemic.”
Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid said:
"A big thank you to all of the researchers, doctors and volunteers involved in this work.
"Our medical and scientific experts will now consider the results before any decisions are made on next steps."