The Odisha Government on Saturday placed an order for 5,000 sachets of 2-DG (2-deoxy-D-glucose) anti-covid drugs for the treatment of hospitalized Covid-19 patients, informed Health secretary PK Mohapatra.
The anti-covid medicine which was developed by Defence Research Organisation (DRDO) in Collaboration with the Hyderabad-based Dr Reddy’s Pharma Laboratory is claimed to help faster recovery of hospitalized patients and reduce oxygen dependence.
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Dr Reddy's pharms had fixed the price of the drug at Rs 990 per sachet. The pharma company, however, declared to supply the medicine to the states, Centres and various hospitals at discounted prices.
The DGCI had given the nod for emergency use of the drug last week. The drug could be a game-changer in the battle against pandemic.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan had released the first batch of the Anti-COVID drug on May 17.
The pharma company also announced to make commercial launch of the medicine in mid-June.
In April 2020, during the first wave of the pandemic, INMAS-DRDO scientists conducted laboratory experiments with the help of Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad, and found that this molecule works effectively against SARS-CoV-2 virus and inhibits the viral growth.