The paper describes the discovery in June 2020 of the world’s first effective, readily available treatment for COVID-19 – the inexpensive steroid, dexamethasone. The RECOVERY trial is a collaboration between the Nuffield Department of Population Health (NDPH) and the Nuffield Department of Medicine at Oxford University. The dexamethasone study involved 6425 patients with severe COVID-19, who were recruited from 175 NHS hospitals across the UK. Launched in just nine days as an emergency response, the RECOVERY Trial has received widespread praise for its efficient, streamlined design and clear results based on reliable, large-scale data. To date, the RECOVERY Trial has recruited over 43,000 participants worldwide, and continues to investigate the following treatments for COVID-19:
