10,000 Packets Of DRDO’s Anti-Covid Oral Drug To Be Distributed Today
New Delhi: An anti-coronavirus drug developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) will be launched today, with Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh distributing around 10,000 doses to some hospitals in the national capital.
2-deoxy-D-glucose or 2-DG was developed by a DRDO lab in collaboration with Hyderabad-based pharma giant, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories.
Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI), the country’s top drug regulator, has approved the medicine for emergency use.
The drug showed excellent results in two- and three-stage clinical trials. The drug was found to be effective in cutting short the hospital stay of covid patients and reducing their supplimental oxygen dependance.
A kind of pseudo glucose molecule in the drug stops the virus in its tracks, the defence body says.The medicine is available in powder form and can be taken with water.
2-DG is one of the few medicines used to reduce the severity of the disease in the absence of a specific drug for the treatment of covid. The new drug is expected to bring great relief to India, which has reported more than three lakh cases and thousands of deaths in the last few weeks in the second wave of covid.
Amid the mayhem unleashed by the virus and exacerbated by shortages of medicines, hospital beds and live-saving oxygen, cases of a horrifying secondary infection, commonly called ‘Black Fungus’, have emerged from several states.
Experts say because of the misuse of steroids – which can diminish the natural immunity of the body, fungal and bacterial infections are killing active and cured Covid patients.
