Rajnath Singh inaugurates first batch of DRDO’s anti-Covid drug 2DG

On Monday, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh launched the first batch of the anti-Covid-19 drug 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG) to improve India's battle against the coronavirus. The drug rollout was also attended by Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan and AIIMS Delhi Director Dr Randeep Guleria.

About 10,000 doses of the 2-DG drug, which exists in powder form and is administered orally by solubilizing it in water, were made available on Monday.

The drug 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG) has been formulated as an anti-COVID-19 therapeutic application by the Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS), which is a laboratory of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), in cooperation with Dr Reddy's Laboratories (DRL), Hyderabad.

On May 1st, the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) authorized it for emergency use as an additional therapy which is non-essential to the treatment in mild to serious Covid-19 patients.

In response to Prime Minister Modi's call for pandemic preparedness, the DRDO came up with the idea to create an anti-COVID therapeutic application of 2-DG.

During the first wave of the pandemic in April 2020, INMAS-DRDO scientists performed laboratory experiments with the aid of the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) in Hyderabad and discovered that this molecule is successful against SARS-CoV-2 virus and reduces its growth.

They began clinical trials to assess the drug's safety and effectiveness in coronavirus patients, and the drug was reported to be successful in Covid-19 patients and demonstrated substantial progress in their recovery during Phase-II trials performed from May to October last year.

Clinical trial findings indicate that this molecule aids in the quicker healing of hospitalised patients and decreases their reliance on supplemental oxygen.

In Covid-19 patients, a higher proportion of patients who made use of 2-DG had RT-PCR negative conversion. The drug would be very beneficial to those suffering from Covid-19.