Price of DRDO’s 2DG anti-Covid drug fixed at ₹990
Premium- The government hospitals, central and state government would get the drug at a discounted price
Dr Reddy’s has fixed the price of DRDO’s 2DG anti-Covid drug at ₹990 per sachet. However, the pharma company would provide the drug to the government hospitals, central and state governments at a discounted price.
The second batch of anti-COVID drug 2-DG was released by the manufacturer on Thursday. On May 26, the DRDO officials said that the second batch of 10,000 sachets of 2DG drug would be issued tomorrow (May 27) by Dr Reddy’s Lab.
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The drug would be available commercially now, the officials said while speaking to ANI.
Earlier this month, the Drugs Controller General of India (DGCI) approved the drug for emergency use as an adjunct therapy in moderate to severe Covid patients. The approval came at a time when the country was hit by the unprecedented second wave of the pandemic.
During the peak of second wave, a large number of patients were facing severe oxygen dependency and needed hospitalisation.
The drug was lunched around the same time.
In a statement issued then, the defence ministry said that "the drug is expected to save precious lives due to the mechanism of its operation in the infected cells. This also reduces the hospital stay of COVID-19 patients".
Last week, it was reported that the central government was considering involving three to more companies to ramp up the production of 2DG drug.
The demand for 2DG drug is very high but supply is limited. An official recently told the news agency that considering the demand, the Centre was thinking of allowing 3-4 more firms to produce the drug.
The drug, which comes on powder form, has been developed by DRDO's Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences in collaboration with Dr Reddy's Laboratories, Hyderabad.
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