GREEN SIGNAL! Mankind Pharma gets DRDO nod to manufacture, market COVID drug 2-DG

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has approved Mankind Pharma to manufacture and market oral 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG), used for the treatment of COVID-19, said the drug firm on Thursday.  

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"Our objective behind this agreement is to ensure maximum reach of this medication to the deserving Indian patients suffering from the deadly pandemic," news agency PTI quoted Mankind Pharma. 

In fight against Covdi 19 pandemic, 2-DG was developed by the Defence Research and Development Establishment (DRDE), Gwalior. The clinical trials were conducted by the Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS), a lab of DRDO, in association with Dr Reddy's Laboratories, Mankind Pharma said in a statement. 

The company will manufacture the product at its facilities in Visakhapatnam and Himachal Pradesh, it added. 

The office of the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) on May 1 had permitted the emergency use of 2-DG as an adjunct treatment for moderate to severe COVID-19 patients, Mankind Pharma said. 

The drug is found to help the hospitalised COVID-19 patients recover faster and is also known to reduce the supplemental oxygen dependency among the COVID-19 patients, it added. 

Earlier, the price of DRDO’s 2DG anti-COVID 19 drug was kept at Rs 990 per sachet by Dr Reddy’s lab. "Govt hospitals, central and state govt would be provided the medicine at a discounted price, government sources had told ANI.