Dr Reddy's Laboratories announces commercial launch of anti-COVID 2-DG drug

The Hyderabad based pharmaceutical company said that in the initial weeks, it will make the drug available in hospitals across metros and Tier 1 cities, and subsequently expand coverage to the rest of India.

New Delhi: Dr Reddy's Laboratories on Monday (June 28, 2021) announced the commercial launch of the anti-COVID drug 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG). The Hyderabad based pharmaceutical company said that it will supply the drug to major Government and private hospitals across India. 

"In the initial weeks, the Company will make the drug available in hospitals across metros and Tier 1 cities, and subsequently expand coverage to the rest of India," it said.

The 2-DG manufactured by Dr Reddy's has a purity of 99.5% and the maximum retail price of each sachet has been fixed at Rs 990, with a subsidized rate offered to Government institutions. 

This is to be noted that 2-DG was developed by the Institute of Nuclear Medicine & Allied Sciences (INMAS), a laboratory of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), in collaboration with Dr Reddy's. 

It is an oral drug and can be administered only upon prescription and under the supervision of a qualified physician to hospitalised moderate to severe COVID-19 patients as an adjunct therapy to the existing standard of care.

The Emergency use approval for anti-COVID-19 therapeutic application of the drug was granted on May 1, 2021.