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 an adjunct therapy in moderate to severe COVID-19 patients. Being a generic molecule & analogue of glucose, it can be easily produced & made available in plenty informed Defence Research and Development Organisation DRDO.
The drug was developed by the Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS), a lab of DRDO, in collaboration with Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, Hyderabad.
The results of the third phase of the clinical trial of the drug showed that the molecule helps in the faster recovery of hospitalised patients and reduces supplemental oxygen dependence. A higher proportion of patients treated with 2-DG showed RT-PCR negative conversion, said the report.
