The anti-Covid-19 drug, 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG), developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation in association with Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, will be rolled out in a week on a limited scale.
The production of the drug, which has been approved by the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) for emergency use in treatment of Covid-19 patients, has already been underway and the first batch of product will be out by next week, according to reliable sources.
2-DG is an anti-Covid-19 therapeutic application of the drug 2-deoxy-D-glucose developed by Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences, a lab of DRDO, in collaboration with Dr Reddy’s. The drug comes in powder form in sachet, which is taken orally by dissolving it in water.
While DRDO is still keeping full details of production of the drug under wraps, it is learnt that Dr Reddy’s will shoulder the responsibility of the production which will be scaled up over a period of time.
According to DRDO, clinical trial results “have shown that this molecule helps in faster recovery of hospitalszed patients and reduces supplemental oxygen dependence.’’
When contacted, a chairman of a Hyderabad-based drug maker, said: “The drug, going by the claims of DRDO, will be a wonder drug for Covid-19 patients. However, ramping of the production and its distribution will be a challenge if we need to make it accessible to the vast number of patients suffering with Covid currently.’’