As per Dr Dr Sudhir Chandna, a scientist at Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS), the recently approved anti-COVID oral drug 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG) which will help patients recover faster is expected to be made available to patients in a month’s time. This drug is developed by Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS), a lab of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
Speaking about the drug, the DRDO had said that it would help neutralise most of the COVID-19 symptoms and will prevent the growth of the virus inside the body. Regarding the availability of the drug, Chandana told a media news that the team is working on making it available by next month.
“Our Industry partner is Dr Reddy’s Laboratories. We are working and trying together to expedite manufacturing. In a few weeks or within a month time, the medicine will be available for the patients,”
he said while talking to News18.
INMAS worked in collaboration with Dr Reddy’s Laboratories (DRL), Hyderabad to develop the anti-COVID-19 therapeutic application of the drug 2-deoxy-D-glucose. Yesterday, the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has granted permission for the emergency use of the drug 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG) as an adjunct therapy in moderate to severe COVID-19 cases.
According to the government, the clinical trials have shown that a significantly higher proportion of patients administered with the 2-DG drug “became free from supplemental oxygen dependence” by the third day of their treatment, in comparison to those who were not administered with the drug.
Phase-II trials for the 2-DG drug were conducted between May and October of last year. Six hospitals were part of the Phase-II (a) trials and 11 hospitals were part of the Phase-II (b) trials to determine dose range.
A total of 110 patients were part of the Phase-II clinical trials of this drug. In terms of improvement in vital signs of symptomatic patients who were administered the drug, a difference of 2.5 days was seen compared to Standard of Care (SoC).
Approval for Phase-III trials was given in November of last year. These trials were conducted at 27 Covid hospitals in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
Data pertaining to these trials showed reduced dependence on oxygen among moderate cases of Covid-19, even in patients aged 65 and above.
The 2-DG drug, which comes in powder form in sachets, has to be taken orally by dissolving it in water. The DRDO says that the 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG) drug can easily be produced and made available in plenty in the country since it is a generic molecule and analogue of glucose.
The timing of the Drug release is based on a report of News18 report as of https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/coronavirus/2-dg-drdos-anti-covid-oral-drug-likely-to-be-available-within-a-month-says-scientist-6872481.html
Bhoi Smrutirekha Dharanidhar