Pharmaceutical company Dr. Reddyโ€™s Laboratories on Monday announced the commercial launch of anti-Covid19 drug 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG), developed in collaboration with Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

Dr. Reddyโ€™s will supply the anti-Covid19 drug to major government as well as private hospitals across India.

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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.

โ€œ2-DG manufactured by Dr Reddyโ€™s has a purity of 99.5% and is being sold commercially under the brand name 2DGTM,โ€ the company said in a statement.

The maximum retail price (MRP) of each sachet has been fixed at Rs. 990, with a subsidized rate offered to government institutions.

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Also read: Assam scientist Jubilee Purkayastha helped DRDO develop anti-Covid drug 2-DG

The oral drug can be administered only upon prescription and under the supervision of a qualified physician to hospitalised moderate to severe COVID19 patients as an adjunct therapy to the existing standard of care.

Emergency use approval for anti-COVID19 therapeutic application of the drug was granted on May 1, 2021.

Dr. G. Satheesh Reddy, Secretary to the Department of Defence (R&D) and chairman, DRDO said, โ€œWe are pleased to have worked closely with our long-term industry partner Dr. Reddyโ€™s Laboratories, Hyderabad, for testing 2-DG as therapeutic application in treatment of COVID-19 patients.โ€

Also read: Anti-COVID-19 drug 2-DG released

โ€œDRDO has been contributing in fight against COVID-19 pandemic with its spin off technologies,โ€ Reddy added.

Satish Reddy, chairman of Dr. Reddyโ€™s said, โ€œ2-DG is yet another addition to our COVID19 portfolio that already covers the full spectrum of mild to moderate and severe conditions and includes a vaccine.โ€

โ€œWe are extremely pleased to have partnered with DRDO in our collective fight against the COVID-19 pandemic,โ€ he added.

2-DG was developed by theInstitute of Nuclear Medicine & Allied Sciences(INMAS), a laboratory of the DRDO, in collaboration with Dr. Reddyโ€™s.