Dr Reddy’s Lab has priced the DRDO’s 2DG anti-Covid-19 drug at Rs 990 per pouch. Government officials were quoted by ANI as saying that the medicine would be provided to the central and state government hospitals at a discounted price.
Union Defense Minister Rajnath Singh said on Thursday that 10,000 pouches of anti-Covid drug would be available in the market.
Karnataka Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar said last week that the 2-DG drug developed by the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) could be a game-changer in the fight against COVID.
2-DG (2-deoxy-D-glucose), an anti-COVID-19 therapeutic application of the drug, developed by the Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS), a laboratory of the Defense Research and Development Organization is. DRDO), in collaboration with Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories (DRL), Hyderabad. Results of clinical trials have shown that this molecule helps in rapid recovery of hospitalized patients and reduces supplemental oxygen dependence.
A high proportion of patients treated with 2-DG showed RT-PCR negative conversion in COVID patients.
In April 2020, during the first wave of the epidemic, INMAS-DRDO scientists conducted laboratory experiments with the help of the Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad, and found that this molecule was effectively against the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Works and inhibits viral growth.
Based on these results, the Controller General of Drugs of India (DCGI) Central Drug Standards Control Organization (CDSCO) in May 2020 allowed phase-II clinical trials of 2-DG in COVID-19 patients. DRDO, along with its industry partner DRL. , Hyderabad launched a clinical trial to test the safety and efficacy of the drug in COVID-19 patients. In Phase II trials (including dosing) conducted during May – October 2020, the drug was found to be safe in COVID-19 patients and showed significant improvement in their recovery.
Phase-II was conducted in six hospitals and Phase IIb (dose-taking) clinical trials were conducted in 11 hospitals across the country. The second phase was tested on 110 patients.