First Batch Of DRDO's 2-DG Oral Drug For COVID-19 Out Today

2-DG COVID drug out today: Defense Minister Rajnath Singh will release the first batch of India made powder COVID-19 drug 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG) on Monday, May 17. The oral drug was developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to treat COVID-19.

The first batch of the anti-COVID drug 2DG will be released at 10: 30 AM on Monday via video conferencing facility. The drug has been developed by the Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS) of DRDO in collaboration with Dr Reddy's Laboratories.

DRDO had previously informed ANI on Friday that the first batch of 10,000 doses of 2-DG oral medicine would be launched next week. "The first batch of 10,000 doses of 2-DG medicine for the treatment of Covid-19 infected patients would be launched early next week and will be given to patients," said the officials.

According to the officials, the manufacturers are working on ramping up the production of the oral drug for future use. The DRDO officials informed that the drug has been developed by a team of DRDO officials including Dr Anant Narayan Bhatt.

The clinical trials of the oral drug have shown that it helps in faster recovery of the patients hospitalised for COVID-19 and it also reduces supplemental oxygen dependence. The drug comes in a sachet form which can be taken only by dissolving it in water.

Does the 2-DG drug work on all COVID variants?

The 2-DG drug accumulates in the virus-infected cells and will prevent the growth of the virus growth by stopping the viral synthesis and its energy production.

According to the director of the Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences, Dr Anil Mishra, the drug is supposed to arrest any COVID variant because of the way it functions. The drug stops the multiplication of the virus and the production of energy, and as any multiplying virus, irrespective of variant, will need food and thus will get trapped by the drug.

Recently approved anti-COVID oral drug 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG), developed by @DRDO_India, will help patients recover faster! Watch to know more. #IndiaFightsCorona @PMOIndia @MoHFW_INDIA @drharshvardhan @PIB_India @MIB_India @PrakashJavdekar pic.twitter.com/wPqADAlkuP

— MyGovIndia (@mygovindia) May 11, 2021

How does the drug work?

The drug is a repurposed drug as the 2-DG molecule is usually meant for treating tumour and cancer cells, and is a glucose analogue, which looks like glucose but is not. As any multiplying virus will need glucose for energy, the virus will take this glucose analogue and its multiplication will get arrested.

Picture Credit: Scripps.org