India’s regulator has approved a new, oral COVID-19 drug that promises to reduce hospitalisation time and oxygen dependency for moderate to severe cases, reports the Economic Times.
The first 10,000 doses are expected to be available by next week.
Effective COVID-19 vaccine
The 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG) drug developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation has proved to be effective in three phases of trials on COVID-19 patients and can be easily mass produced, officials said, adding that it will help relieve the burden on the country’s health infrastructure.
The Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences, a DRDO lab, worked in partnership with Dr Reddy’s Laboratories to develop the drug, with the clinical trials showing it to be effective in controlling the pandemic, officials said.
“In the next one week, we will have 10,000 doses ready and there will be a large rollout in the next three weeks. This will help support patients and prevent the spread of the virus. We are working closely with Dr Reddy’s Laboratories to ramp up availability,” DRDO chief G Sateesh Reddy told.
Successful phase-3 trials
Work on the drug started in April 2020 during the first wave of the pandemic, with scientists identifying its therapeutic abilities, following which the Drugs Controller General of India permitted clinical trials for 2-DG.
The phase-2 trials were conducted with 110 patients at 11 hospitals, while phase 3 was conducted on 220 patients across 27 hospitals, concluding in March this year.
“A significantly higher proportion of patients improved symptomatically and became free from supplemental oxygen dependence by day 3, indicating an early relief from oxygen therapy/dependence. A similar trend was observed in patients more than 65 years old,” officials said.
The DGCI approved emergency use of the drug as of May 1.
“We have taken a large sample size and have shown that it is effective for moderate to severe patients,” Sateesh Reddy said.
The drug comes in powder form in a sachet and is to be taken orally by dissolving it in water.
Did you subscribe to our daily newsletter?
It’s Free! Click here to Subscribe!
Source: The Economic Times
