This COVID Drug Reduces Supplemental Oxygen Dependence 

The therapeutic application of the 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG) drug for the treatment of Covid patients was approved by the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI). The anti- Covid drug has been developed by the Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS), a lab of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), in collaboration with Dr Reddy’s Laboratories (DRL), Hyderabad.

Government officials said that the clinical trial results of this module have shown that it helps in faster recovery of hospitalised patients and reduces supplemental oxygen dependence. "The drug will be of immense benefit to people suffering from Covid-19,” they added.

During the Phase-III clinical trial conducted on 220 patients between December 2020 to March 2021at 27 Covid hospitals in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, a significantly higher proportion of patients improved symptomatically and became free from supplemental oxygen dependence by day three, indicating an early relief from oxygen therapy/dependence, the DRDO statement added.

This drug can be taken orally by dissolving in water as it comes in powder form in a sachet. It accumulates in the virus-infected cells and prevents virus growth by stopping viral synthesis and energy production.

The 2-DG can easily be produced as it is a generic molecule and analogue of glucose, the officials said. They sounded confident that the drug can be made available in plenty across the country.