2-DG "EMPOWER IAS"

DRDO’s new anti-Covid oral drug, 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG), was recently granted emergency use approval by the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI).
2-DG halts the spread of COVID-19 inside the body cells.
Clinical trial results have shown that this molecule helps in faster recovery of hospitalised patients and reduces supplemental oxygen dependence.
In efficacy trends, the patients treated with 2-DG showed faster symptomatic cure than Standard of Care (SoC) on various endpoints.
A significantly favourable trend (2.5 days difference) was seen in terms of the median time to achieving normalisation of specific vital signs parameters when compared to SoC.

2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG) is an anti-Covid oral drug. It has been developed by the Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS), a lab of DRDO in collaboration with Dr Reddy’s Laboratories(DRL).

How does a 2-DG drug work?

The 2-DG comes in powder form in the sachet. One has to take it orally by dissolving the powder in water.
The drug accumulates in the virus-infected cells. It, thereby, prevents virus growth by stopping viral synthesis and energy production.
The selective accumulation of the drug in virally infected cells makes this drug unique.

The drug helps in the faster recovery of hospitalised patients. Further, it also reduces supplemental oxygen dependence.
A higher proportion of patients treated with 2-DG also showed RT-PCR negative conversion in Covid-19 patients.

Drugs Controller General of India

Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) is the head of department of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization of the Government of India responsible for approval of licences of specified categories of drugs such as blood and blood products, IV fluids, vaccines, and sera in India.
Drugs Controller General of India, comes under the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare.
DCGI also sets standards for manufacturing, sales, import, and distribution of drugs in India.

Functions of DCGI:

DCGI lays down the standard and quality of manufacturing, selling, import and distribution of drugs in India.
Preparation and maintenance of national reference standard.
To bring about the uniformity in the enforcement of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act.
Training of Drug Analysts deputed by State Drug Control Laboratories and other Institutions
Analysis of Cosmetics received as survey samples from CDSCO (central drug standard control organisation)
With the notification of Medical Device Rules 2017 by the Government of India, DCGI will also act as Central Licensing Authority (CLA) for the medical devices which fall under the purview of these rules.

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