Hyderabad-based pharma company Dr Reddy's has priced the anti-COVID 19 drug 2-DG, developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), at Rs 990 a sachet, ANI has reported.
The medicine will be provided at a discount to government hospitals, the Centre and state governments. The drug will be launched commercially in mid-June.
The first batch of the anti-viral drug was released on May 17 by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Health Minister Harsh Vardhan after the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) granted permission for the emergency use of the drug, 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG), as an adjunct therapy in moderate to severe coronavirus patients.
The drug has been developed by the Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences, a DRDO lab, in collaboration with Dr Reddy’s. During clinical trials, the drug helped in a faster recovery of hospitalised patients and reduced supplemental oxygen dependence, the defence ministry said.
The drug has been released at a time when India is grappling with a record-breaking wave of the coronavirus pandemic that has stretched the country's healthcare infrastructure. Though the cases have begun to decline, concerns remain for rural areas where testing is not extensive and medical facilities are poor.
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