DRDO’s anti-Covid-19 drug available at Rs. 990 per sachet, Discount for Centre and states

Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) has developed a drug for the treatment of Covid-19 which will be available in the market at a price of Rs 990 per sachet which be sold by Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, officials revealed on Friday. Although, The Centre and the states will able to get the medicine at a discounted price.

On May 17, the first batch of the anti-Covid-19 drug was launched by Defence minister Rajnath Singh along with Union health minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan, following the approval given by the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) for 2-deoxy -D-glucose (2-DG) as an adjunct therapy for the treatment of moderate to severely affected Covid-19 infections.

Last year, in April, when the Covid-19 pandemic started, a team of scientists from the Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS) under DRDO conducted experiments with the assistance of Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad in collaboration with DRL. Amid the research, it was discovered that the molecule works efficiently against the SARS-CoV-2 virus by inhibiting viral growth.

The 2-DG drug is in the powder which needs to be taken orally after mixing with water. On administration, the drug accumulates in the infected viral cells and subsequently prevents viral growth by blocking the synthesis and energy production.

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