DRDO's anti-COVID drug is safe, will help patients recover faster: Dr Sudhir Chandna

Dr Sudhir Chandna, Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS) scientist, on Sunday said the recently approved anti-COVID drug 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG) is completely safe and will help patients recover faster.

2-DG has been developed by INMAS, a lab of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), in collaboration with Dr Reddy's Laboratories (DRL), Hyderabad.

"During clinical trials, it has yielded an effective result in curing patients infected with COVID-19. The medicine has gone through clinical trials on around 110 patients in the second phase. In the third phase, it was tried on 220 patients. It has shown better efficacy in phase two itself as compared to the standard care," Dr Chandna said.

"Recovery was two to three days faster for COVID-19 patients," he added.

He pointed out that in phase 3, the freedom from oxygen dependence has been seen in 42 per cent of the patients by the third day as compared to 31 per cent in standard care.

"This data has indicated that oxygen dependence reduced in a better way when we use this medicine along with standard care," Dr Chandna explained.

"The DRDO, along with its industry partner DRL, Hyderabad, started the clinical trials in April last year. The Phase 2 trials conducted from May to October 2020 on 110 patients.

"Based on successful results, DCGI further permitted the Phase 3 clinical trials. The Phase 3 clinical trial was conducted on 220 patients between December 2020 to March 2021," he added.

On being asked about the price, he said: "It will depend on the production and those factors are with Dr Reddy's Laboratories who are our industry partners. As per our information and understanding, Dr. Reddy's is trying that it comes out in a few days."

India has been witnessing a massive surge in coronavirus infections in the second wave. On Sunday, the country reported 4,03,738 new COVID-19 cases, as per the health ministry update on Sunday morning.

(ANI)

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