<p>As India grapples with the devastating second wave of the pandemic, an anti-Covid oral drug, developed by DRDO in collaboration with Dr Reddy’s Laboratories has been approved by the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) for emergency use. </p>.<p>The DCGI said clinical trials of the drug 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG) showed that it helps in faster recovery of hospitalised patients and reduces supplemental oxygen dependence.</p>.<p><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tag/coronavirus" target="_blank"><strong>CORONAVIRUS SPECIAL COVERAGE ONLY ON DH</strong></a></p>.<p>So how does the drug work and when are the benefits? Let us take a look.</p>.<p><strong>How does 2-DG drug work?</strong></p>.<p>The 2-DG comes in powder form in the sachet and is taken orally by dissolving it in water. Ministry of Defence, in a statement, explained that the drug accumulates in the virus-infected cells and prevents virus growth by stopping viral synthesis and energy production. Its selective accumulation in virally infected cells makes this drug unique, it said.</p>.<p><strong>What's the benefit of the drug?</strong></p>.<p>The second wave, crippling the country's health infrastructure, is being largely blamed on the lack of oxygen and critical care beds. The 2-DG drug, DRDO claims, will save lives due to the mechanism of operation of the drug in infected cells and will also help patients in getting discharged sooner.</p>.<p>Sharing microscopic images of cells before and after the drug is administered, it said that the higher proportion of patients treated with 2-DG showed RT-PCR negative conversion in Covid-19 patients.</p>.<p>The patients treated with 2-DG showed faster symptomatic cure than normal and took about 2.5 days less to recover than people who were not, DRDO said in the statement.</p>.<p>On Sunday, India recorded 4,03,738 new cases and more than 4,000 coronavirus deaths in a day for the second day in a row.</p>
<p>As India grapples with the devastating second wave of the pandemic, an anti-Covid oral drug, developed by DRDO in collaboration with Dr Reddy’s Laboratories has been approved by the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) for emergency use. </p>.<p>The DCGI said clinical trials of the drug 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG) showed that it helps in faster recovery of hospitalised patients and reduces supplemental oxygen dependence.</p>.<p><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tag/coronavirus" target="_blank"><strong>CORONAVIRUS SPECIAL COVERAGE ONLY ON DH</strong></a></p>.<p>So how does the drug work and when are the benefits? Let us take a look.</p>.<p><strong>How does 2-DG drug work?</strong></p>.<p>The 2-DG comes in powder form in the sachet and is taken orally by dissolving it in water. Ministry of Defence, in a statement, explained that the drug accumulates in the virus-infected cells and prevents virus growth by stopping viral synthesis and energy production. Its selective accumulation in virally infected cells makes this drug unique, it said.</p>.<p><strong>What's the benefit of the drug?</strong></p>.<p>The second wave, crippling the country's health infrastructure, is being largely blamed on the lack of oxygen and critical care beds. The 2-DG drug, DRDO claims, will save lives due to the mechanism of operation of the drug in infected cells and will also help patients in getting discharged sooner.</p>.<p>Sharing microscopic images of cells before and after the drug is administered, it said that the higher proportion of patients treated with 2-DG showed RT-PCR negative conversion in Covid-19 patients.</p>.<p>The patients treated with 2-DG showed faster symptomatic cure than normal and took about 2.5 days less to recover than people who were not, DRDO said in the statement.</p>.<p>On Sunday, India recorded 4,03,738 new cases and more than 4,000 coronavirus deaths in a day for the second day in a row.</p>
