New Delhi: The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has granted permission for the emergency use of therapeutic application of drug 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG) as adjunct therapy (an alternative treatment to assist primary treatment) in moderate to severe COVID-19 patients.
The drug has been developed by the DRDO lab, Institute of Nuclear Medicine & Allied Sciences, in collaboration with Dr Reddy’s Laboratories.
According to the DRDO, clinical trial has shown that this molecule helps in faster recovery of hospitalized patients and reduces supplemental oxygen dependence.
Higher proportion of patients treated with 2-DG showed RT-PCR negative conversion in COVID positive cases. In efficacy trends, the patients treated with 2-DG showed faster symptomatic cure than Standard of Care (SoC) on various endpoints, the DRDO said.
Being a generic molecule and analogue of glucose, it can be easily produced and made available in plenty, the DRDO added.
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.
