The first batch of 10,000 doses of 2DG medicine for curing COVID-19 patients would be launched early next week and will be given to patients, says DRDO officials.
At a time when country battles with the second wave of coronavirus, the first batch of 10,000 doses of 2DG medicine for curing COVID-19 patients would be launched early next week and will be given to patients, DRDO officials informed on Friday.
"The drug manufacturers are working on ramping up the production of the medicine for future use. The drug has been developed by a team of DRDO scientists including Dr Anant Narayan Bhatt," officials said.
Earlier in the day, Karnataka Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar had said that DRDO 2DG drug for Covid-19 could act as a game-changer in nation's fight against the pandemic.
"The 2-DG drug developed by DRDO is a big breakthrough and could be a game-changer in the battle against pandemic as it helps in faster recovery of hospitalised patients and reduces oxygen dependence," Sudhakar was quoted as saying in a statement issued by his office.
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The Minister had visited the DRDO campus in the city where scientists briefed him about the ongoing efforts at the premier research organisation to find solutions to tackle the pandemic.
About the 2-DG (2-deoxy-D-glucose), an anti-COVID-19 therapeutic application of the drug, the statement read that it has been developed by the Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS), a lab of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), in collaboration with Dr Reddys Laboratories (DRL), Hyderabad.
Clinical trial results have shown that this molecule helps in faster recovery of hospitalised patients and reduces supplemental oxygen dependence.
Higher proportion of patients treated with 2-DG showed RT-PCR negative conversion in COVID patients. The drug would be of benefit to the people suffering from COVID-19, the statement read.
In April 2020, during the first wave of the pandemic, INMAS-DRDO scientists conducted laboratory experiments with the help of Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad, and found that this molecule works effectively against SARS-CoV-2 virus and inhibits the viral growth, according to the statement.
