THE Filipino-developed formulation set to undergo clinical trials as a cure for coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) has gotten a boost from British researchers and the World Health Organization (WHO).

As a University of Oxford press release reported on Tuesday, the steroid dexamethasone, one of two components of the Philippine formulation, prevented about one-third of deaths among seriously ill patients dependent on ventilators. And among those just requiring oxygen, another 1 in every 5 recovered in massive trials covering 11,500 patients in more than 175 public hospitals in the United Kingdom (http://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2020-06-16-low-cost-dexamethasone-reduces-death-one-third-hospitalised-patients-severe).