DRDO-DRL’s 2DG drug for COVID-19 treatment gets delayed

Wait for the 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG), could get longer. This anti-COVID-19 therapeutic drug 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG) was supposed to be available commercially mid-June, however, the Dr Reddy’s Laboratories (DRL), Hyderabad, has no definitive date for this yet.

When will it be available commercially?

In an email response to Financial Express Online query, DRL’s ccompany spokesperson says: “Dr Reddy’s has not announced the commercial launch of 2-DG yet. We will continue to share updates as they become available.”

Sharing more about the much awaited indigenous treatment for COVID-19, the company spokesperson adds, “2-DG is an oral antiviral drug that can be administered only upon prescription to hospitalised moderate to severe COVID-19 patients as adjunct (add on) therapy, alongside the existing standard of care. Details of the clinical trials and emergency use approval were released by the DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation) on May 8, 2021.”

Role of DRL

The 2-DG has, according to DRDO, been jointly developed by Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS), and Dr Reddy’s Laboratories (DRL), Hyderabad.

This drug was officially released by defence minister Rajnath Singh last month.

During the surge in COVID-19 positive cases, on May 25, 2021, in an email response to a query about the availability of the miracle drug, the DRL company spokesperson had said, “commercial launch and supply of 2DG to major Government and private hospitals is expected to commence in mid-June.”

Similar information was also shared on social media platforms too.

As reported earlier, the official spokesperson of Dr Reddy’s in an email had mentioned that “2-DG is an oral drug. And this has to be administered upon prescription to the hospitalised moderate to severe COVID-19 patients. It will be in addition to the existing standard of care.”

Availability at the pharmacies

During the surge in cases, those looking for the miracle drug were asked to be in touch with DRL which was sending directly to the hospitals on presentation of the prescriptions.

Once the drug is available commercially it will be supplied to the hospitals.

Will it be available OTC & pricing?

There is no clarity on this so far. The DRL spokesperson had told Financial Express Online that the pricing would be affordable and will be accessible to as many patients as possible.

Debate over the efficacy

DRDO official told Financial Express Online that DRL was the development partner with DRDO in the study on COVID-19 patients. DRL has been a long -standing industry partner of DRDO for 2-DG clinical applications since 2004.

This drug has successfully completed the Phase-3 clinical trials for radiotherapy of brain tumor patients.

As reported earlier, no other institute was involved in the trials of this drug.

The story so far …

The official statement issued by the Ministry of Defence on May 8, 2021, said that the trials for the drug had started last April during the first wave of the global pandemic.

In an official statement issued by the Ministry of Defence (May 8, 2021), this drug has been jointly developed and produced by DRDO and DRL.

The statement said that the drug has undergone clinical trials, in which the scientists from INMAS had carried out experiments with the help of Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology based in Hyderabad. And the results indicated that there was a faster recovery of hospitalized patients and it also reduced dependency on supplemental oxygen.