Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) on Saturday approved anti-COVID drug 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG) developed by DRDO in collaboration with Dr Reddy's Laboratories, Hyderabad for emergency use.
The drug comes in powder form in sachet, which is taken orally by dissolving it in water. It accumulates in the virus-infected cells and prevents virus growth by stopping viral synthesis and energy production. "Its selective accumulation in virally infected cells makes this drug unique," an official release said.
The clinical trial results have shown that this molecule helps in the faster recovery of hospitalised patients and reduces supplemental oxygen dependence. "Higher proportion of patients treated with 2-DG showed RT-PCR negative conversion in patients infected with coronavirus," the release said.
The Phase-III clinical trial was conducted on 220 patients between December 2020 to March 2021 at 27 COVID hospitals in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
The drug is expected to be of immense benefit to the people suffering from COVID-19 in the ongoing pandemic.
On May 01, 2021, DCGI granted permission for the Emergency Use of this drug as an adjunct therapy in moderate to severe COVID-19 patients. Being a generic molecule and analogue of glucose, it can be easily produced and made available in the country.
In the ongoing second COVID-19 wave, a large number of patients are facing severe oxygen dependency and need hospitalisation. "The drug is expected to save precious lives due to the mechanism of operation of the drug in infected cells. This also reduces the hospital stay of COVID-19 patients," it said.
Meanwhile, India on Friday reported over 4.01 lakh (4,01,078) fresh COVID-19 cases and more than four thousand cases in the last 24 hours.
4,187 people succumbed to the deadly infection, the highest number of fatalities in a single day, as per the Union Health Ministry data on Saturday (May 8).
