The price of a drug for COVID-19 patients developed by India's top defence research body has been fixed at Rs 990 per sachet, news agency ANI reported today quoting unnamed officials.
The oral drug called '2-deoxy-D-glucose' or 2-DG, was developed by the Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences, a laboratory of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), in collaboration with Dr Reddy's Laboratories. It was approved for emergency use by the country's drugs controller earlier this month, as India battled a deadly second wave of the pandemic.
The drug comes in powder form in a sachet and is taken orally by dissolving it in water.
The price of DRDO's 2-DG anti-Covid drug has been kept at Rs 990 per sachet by Dr Reddy's. Government hospitals, central and state governments would be provided the medicine at a discounted price, ANI reported the officials as saying.
While launching a website for hassle-free medical consultation for armed forces personnel, veterans and their families on Thursday, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had said the 2-DG drug has shown good results. "I am happy that 10,000 sachets of the drug are coming to the market today," Mr Singh said.
The 2-DG is being sold as an adjunct therapy in moderate to severe coronavirus patients.
The Drugs Controller General of India cleared the drug after clinical trial results showed that a molecule present in the drug helps in faster recovery of hospitalised patients and reduces supplemental oxygen dependence.
A higher proportion of patients treated with the drug tested negative for Covid in RT-PCR tests.
With inputs from ANI
