The Drugs Controller General of India that approved oral drug 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG) developed by the DRDO for emergency usage to treat the COVID-19 infection is likely to be available from the coming week, news agency ANI reported. The anti-COVID-19 medication can be used as an additional therapy in moderate to severe patients. In the first batch, 10,000 doses of this medicine will be launched.
Who is the manufacturer?
The drug has been developed by Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS), a leading laboratory of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), in collaboration with Dr Reddy’s Laboratories in Hyderabad.
How will 2-DG work?
The 2-DG drug had been shown to help ensure faster recovery of hospitalised patients as well as reducing supplemental oxygen dependence during clinical trials. The drug accumulates in infected cells, preventing virus growth by stopping viral synthesis and energy production. It is a repurposed drug as the 2-DG molecule is meant for treating tumour, cancer cells.
A virus that is multiplying fast in the body needs glucose for energy. The drug will stop the virus from multiplying.
Will this drug work on other variants of COVID-19?
According to Dr Anil Mishra, Director of the Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences, the way the drug functions is supposed to arrest any variant as a multiplying virus, irrespective of variant, will need food and thus will get trapped by the drug.
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