New Delhi: Giving itself options in treatment of Covid, an anti-coronavirus drug developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) will be launched on Monday.
During the soft launch, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will distribute around 10,000 doses to some hospitals in the national capital.
The drug which has a tongue twister name -- 2-deoxy-D-glucose or 2-DG -- was developed by a DRDO lab in collaboration with the Hyderabad-based pharma giant, Dr Reddy's Laboratories. The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI), the apex body, has approved the medicine for emergency use.
The drug has shown reassuring results in its phase 2 and phase 3 clinical trials, the report in NDTV news portal said. Most important, it was found to be effective in cutting short the hospital stays of Covid patients and reducing their oxygen dependence.
A kind of pseudo glucose molecule in the drug stops the virus in its tracks, the defence body says, reports NDTV. It comes in powder form and can be taken with water.
2-DG is one of the few medicines that have been designed specifically to treat COVID-19, which, as of now, has no cure. Doctors use several experimental drugs and procedures, including Remdevisir, Ivermectin, plasma therapy and some steroids, to treat the deadly infection.
FabiFlu was India’s first oral antiviral drug for treatment of mild & moderate coronavirus. Nearly 80% of all positive cases in India are in this category.
Of late, the havoc wreaked by the virus has been accentuated by shortages of medicines, hospital beds and live-saving oxygen; also, cases of a horrifying secondary infection, commonly called 'Black Fungus', have emanated in several states.
