HYDERABAD: Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) Chairman G Satheesh Reddy said that 2-Deoxy-D-Glucose (2-DG) inhibits SARS-CoV-2 growth in Covid-19 patients due to its unique mechanism and has been found safe and effective in clinical trials.
While participating in a webinar on 2-DG organised by the Federation of Telangana Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FTCCI), in association with DRDO and Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, Satheesh Reddy said that production of the drug was scalable and could be easily stored and distributed.
Anant Narayan Bhatt, Lead Developer-2DG, INMAS-DRDO, said that DRDO, along with its industry partner Dr Reddy’s conducted Phase-II and Phase-III clinical trials to test the safety and efficacy of the drug in Covid patients.
The trials were conducted on 330 patients between May 2020 and March 2021 at 27 Covid hospitals across various States including Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, said Anant Narayan and added that on May 1, DCGI granted permission for emergency use of this drug.