Granules India has received a licence from Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO), Ministry of Defence, Government of India, to manufacture and market of 2- Deoxy-D-Glucose (2-DG). The company said in an exchange filing.

Developed by DRDO, 2-DG has been granted permission by Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) for emergency use of this drug as adjunct therapy in moderate to severe Covid 19 patients.

2-DG works by accumulating in virus infected cells and prevent growth of the virus by stopping - energy production and viral synthesis. This drug reduces a patient’s average recovery time by two and half days and oxygen demand by up to 40 percent.

Granules is working closely with DRDO team to launch the product in India at the earliest.

According to the government, 2-DG being a generic molecule and an analogue of glucose, it can be easily produced and made available in large quantities.