We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. This includes personalizing content and advertising. To learn more, click here. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies. Cookie Policy.

Features Partner Sites Information LinkXpress
Sign In
Advertise with Us

Download Mobile App





Anti-COVID-19 Drug Helps in Faster Recovery of Hospitalized Patients and Reduces Supplemental Oxygen Dependence

By HospiMedica International staff writers
Posted on 11 May 2021
Print article
Image: Anti-COVID-19 Drug Helps in Faster Recovery of Hospitalized Patients and Reduces Supplemental Oxygen Dependence (Photo courtesy of DNA India)
Image: Anti-COVID-19 Drug Helps in Faster Recovery of Hospitalized Patients and Reduces Supplemental Oxygen Dependence (Photo courtesy of DNA India)
An anti-COVID-19 therapeutic application of the drug 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG) has been shown to aid faster recovery of hospitalized patients and reduce supplemental oxygen dependence in clinical trials.

The anti-COVID therapeutic application of 2-DG has been developed by India’s Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS), a lab of Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO; Delhi, India), in collaboration with Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories (DRL; Hyderabad, India). A higher proportion of patients treated with 2-DG showed RT-PCR negative conversion in COVID-19 patients. The drug will be of immense benefit to people suffering from COVID-19.

In April 2020, INMAS-DRDO scientists had conducted laboratory experiments and found that the molecule worked effectively against SARS-CoV-2 virus and inhibited viral growth. Based on these results, the Phase 2 clinical trial of 2-DG was conducted in May 2020 to test the safety and efficacy of the drug in COVID-19 patients. In the Phase 2 trials (including dose ranging) involving 110 patients conducted during May to October 2020, the drug was found to be safe for COVID-19 patients who showed a significant improvement in recovery. The Phase 2a trial was conducted in six hospitals and Phase 2b (dose ranging) clinical trial was conducted at 11 hospitals across India.

In efficacy trends, the patients treated with 2-DG showed faster symptomatic cure than Standard of Care (SoC) on various endpoints. A significantly favorable trend (2.5 days difference) was seen in terms of the median time to achieving normalization of specific vital signs parameters when compared to SoC. Based on the successful results, the Phase 3 clinical trial was conducted on 220 patients between December 2020 to March 2021 at 27 COVID hospitals across several Indian states. In the 2-DG arm, a significantly higher proportion of patients improved symptomatically and became free from supplemental oxygen dependence (42% vs. 31%) by Day-3 in comparison to SoC, indicating early relief from oxygen therapy/dependence. A similar trend was observed in patients aged more than 65 years. On May 01, 2021, the DCGI granted permission for Emergency Use of the drug as adjunct therapy in moderate to severe COVID-19 patients.

Being a generic molecule and analogue of glucose, the drug can be easily produced and made available in plenty. The drug comes in a powder form in a sachet and 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 the drug unique. In the second COVID-19 wave, a large number of patients are facing severe oxygen dependency and need hospitalization. The drug is expected to save precious lives due to its mechanism of operation in infected cells and also reduce the hospital stay of COVID-19 patients.

Related Links:
DRDO
Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories


Gold Member
12-Channel ECG
CM1200B
Gold Member
Real-Time Diagnostics Onscreen Viewer
GEMweb Live
Silver Member
Compact 14-Day Uninterrupted Holter ECG
NR-314P
New
Critical Care Trolley
CCT-PX

Print article

Channels

Critical Care

view channel
Image: The permeable wearable electronics developed for long-term biosignal monitoring (Photo courtesy of CityUHK)

Super Permeable Wearable Electronics Enable Long-Term Biosignal Monitoring

Wearable electronics have become integral to enhancing health and fitness by offering continuous tracking of physiological signals over extended periods. This monitoring is crucial for understanding an... Read more

Surgical Techniques

view channel
Image: NTT and Olympus have begun the world\'s first joint demonstration experiment of a cloud endoscopy system (Photo courtesy of Olympus)

Cloud Endoscopy System Enables Real-Time Image Processing on the Cloud

Endoscopes, which are flexible tubes inserted into the body's natural openings for internal examination and biopsy collection, are becoming increasingly vital in medical diagnostics. Their minimal invasiveness... Read more

Patient Care

view channel
Image: The newly-launched solution can transform operating room scheduling and boost utilization rates (Photo courtesy of Fujitsu)

Surgical Capacity Optimization Solution Helps Hospitals Boost OR Utilization

An innovative solution has the capability to transform surgical capacity utilization by targeting the root cause of surgical block time inefficiencies. Fujitsu Limited’s (Tokyo, Japan) Surgical Capacity... Read more

Health IT

view channel
Image: First ever institution-specific model provides significant performance advantage over current population-derived models (Photo courtesy of Mount Sinai)

Machine Learning Model Improves Mortality Risk Prediction for Cardiac Surgery Patients

Machine learning algorithms have been deployed to create predictive models in various medical fields, with some demonstrating improved outcomes compared to their standard-of-care counterparts.... Read more

Point of Care

view channel
Image: The PATHFAST hs-cTnI-II high-sensitivity troponin assay has been developed for the PATHFAST Biomarker Analyzer (Photo courtesy of Polymedco)

POC Myocardial Infarction Test Delivers Results in 17 Minutes

Chest pain is the second leading cause of emergency department (ED) visits by adults in the United States, generating over 7 million visits annually. In the event of a suspected heart attack, physicians... Read more
Copyright © 2000-2024 Globetech Media. All rights reserved.