Jaipur: After a long wait, the state has received only 450 sachets of anti-Covid drug 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG), which was developed by DRDO in collaboration with Dr Reddy’s laboratories, as a part of the first batch this week.Another batch of 5,000 sachets of the drug will arrive next week, said Alok Ranjan, managing director of Rajasthan Medical Services Corporation Limited (RMSCL).
The state government had placed a purchase order for 10,000 sachets of the drug in mid-May.The anti-Covid-19 therapeutic application of 2-DG has been developed by Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS), a lab of DRDO, along with Dr Reddy’s Laboratories (DRL), Hyderabad.
The drug comes in powder form in 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.
As the number of active Covid cases has dropped to 9,023 in the state, there isn’t much requirement of the drug in the current scenario.“We haven’t started it (prescribing the drug) yet.
We will start it on a trial basis within a week.
We will see how effective it is and then start using it,” Dr Raman Sharma, professor, department of general medicine, SMS Medical College.Meanwhile, the state has also received 336 vials of isavuconazole injection, which is a substitute for liposomal amphotericin B injection — an investigational drug for the treatment of black fungus or mucormycosis.
The state government had placed an order for 780 vials of the drug.The state government had placed a purchase order for 20,000 posaconazole tablets and injections.
“Of the total purchased, 4,100 tablets have been received by the state.
Also, 2,000 posaconazole injections have been received and distributed to the districts,” said Rajan.