The price of DRDO’s 2DG anti-COVID 19 drug has been fixed at Rs 990 per sachet by pharma major Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, government officials told news agency ANI.
The government officials said the central and state government hospitals would be provided with the medicine at a discounted price, reported ANI.
Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday had informed that 10,000 sachets of anti-COVID drug 2-DG will be available in the market.
The drug has been developed by DRDO's Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS) in collaboration with Dr Reddy's Laboratories. DRDO Chairman Dr G Satheesh Reddy had earlier told ANI that DRDO and Dr Reddy's lab had gone through the complete trials and conducted trials across 30 hospitals and on a large number of patients.
The drug comes in powder form in a sachet, which is taken orally by dissolving it in water. It 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.
The Drugs Controller General of India (DGCI) has approved the oral drug for emergency use as an adjunct therapy in moderate to severe coronavirus patients, the defence ministry said earlier this month.
The ministry, on May 8, said the clinical trials of the drug, 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG), showed that it helps in a faster recovery of hospitalised patients and reduces supplemental oxygen dependence.
The approval of the drug has come at a time when India is grappling with a record-breaking wave of the coronavirus pandemic that has stretched the country's healthcare infrastructure to its limit.
While this is great news, it has also caused a lot of furore amidst the citizens who are angry at the high price of the medicine. Many have taken to Twitter to say that Rs 990 for a life-saving drug is unfair.
Here's what people are saying. Have a look.
