The price of oral anti-viral drug for Covid-19 patients, 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2DG) has been fixed at ₹990 per sachet, according to official sources.

Emergency use approval has been granted in India for 2DG developed by the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) in collaboration with Dr Reddy’s Laboratories.

While the product has already been soft-launched a couple of weeks ago, the commercial launch and supply of 2DG to major government and private hospitals is expected to commence in mid-June, according to Dr Reddy’s.

2DG, which comes in the form of a powder, can be administered only upon prescription to hospitalised moderate to severe covid patients as an adjunct therapy along with the existing care.

In the first batch, 10,000 sachets have been produced by Dr Reddy’s.

The pharma major however, is yet to announce the price formally. When contacted, a spokesperson of the company said it has not made any announcement yet and was ‘working towards the next update’.

Commercial availability of 2DG is significant. The defence ministry said that “the drug is expected to save precious lives due to the mechanism of its operation in the infected cells. This also reduces the hospital stay of Covid-19 patients.”

It is likely that more companies could be roped in to ramp up the production of the drug rapidly in view of the present covid19 scenario in the country.

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