The MHRA has provided regulatory guidance to a team of University College London (UCL) and Mercedes Formula One engineers and clinicians to build an adapted Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) device that delivers oxygen to the lungs without needing a ventilator.

The device, which has now been approved to use in patients, provides breathing support and can help keep coronavirus patients out of intensive care.

CPAP devices are already used in hospitals but are in short supply. The collaboration between UCL and Mercedes is supported by the National Institute for Health Research UCLH Biomedical Research Centre and the NHS.

Graeme Tunbridge, MHRA interim Director of Devices, said: