BDR Pharma gets license pact with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to manufacture, distribute, and market COVID-19 drug 2-Deoxy-D-Glucose (2-DG) in the country.
Last month, the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) had approved the oral medication for emergency usage as adjuvant therapy in mild to severe COVID-19 patients.
"We are pleased to secure a license from the DRDO and add 2-Deoxy-D-Glucose to our COVID product offering. This arrangement aims to ensure that this drug reaches as many eligible Indian patients as possible who are suffering from the devastating pandemic," said Dharmesh Shah, CMD BDR Pharmaceutical.
He further added, "Our aim is to ramp up the availability of successful treatment and coordinate manufacturing so that there is no scarcity of drugs to give to people fighting the disease."
The company thinks that by widening and deepening the identification and development of COVID-19 therapy options, this collaboration can address more unmet medical needs, he added.
The product would be priced competitively and will be available in powder form in a sachet that can be consumed orally after being dissolved in water. BDR Pharma has already applied to the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) for restricted emergency use authorisation to manufacture Drug 2-DG to treat COVID-19 patients in India.
For the development of 2-DG drugs, the DRDO has recently signed agreements with four major Indian generic medicine producers. The DRDE had produced 2-DG and the clinical trials were carried out in collaboration with Dr Reddy's Laboratories by the INMAS, a DRDO lab.
After receiving positive responses in Phase-II and Phase-IIb trials, DCGI permitted 2-DG phase-III trials in November 2020.
