Europe’s health regulator has endorsed using dexamethasone to treat severely ill Covid-19 patients with breathing difficulty, paving the way for the steroidal medication to possibly become the region’s second approved medication for the illness.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) on Friday concluded in its review of results from a trial by British scientists that the drug could be an option to treat adults and adolescents needing oxygen therapy or mechanical ventilation.

Gilead’s antiviral drug, remdesivir, was the first to be approved for Covid-19 by Europe in July, a month after the EMA endorsed the drug.

Companies that sell the widely available and low-cost dexamethasone, commonly used against a range of inflammatory conditions, can now apply for a licence on the expanded use to their national regulators or the EMA, the watchdog said.