A medical worker administers a COVID-19 vaccine jab to a woman at a hospital in Bangalore, India, May 8, 2021. (Photo: Xinhua)   

The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has granted the emergency use authorisation license to the country's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for a drug to treat COVID-19 patients, officials said Saturday.

The drug, namely drug 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG), was developed by the Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS), a lab of DRDO in collaboration with Dr Reddy's Laboratories (DRL), Hyderabad.

"Clinical trial results have shown that this molecule helps in faster recovery of hospitalised patients and reduces supplemental oxygen dependence. Higher proportion of patients treated with 2-DG showed RT-PCR negative conversion in COVID patients. The drug will be of immense benefit to the people suffering from COVID-19," a statement issued by the federal defense ministry said.

The drug comes in 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," the ministry said.

In the ongoing second COVID-19 wave, a large number of patients are facing severe oxygen dependency and in need of hospitalisation. The ministry said the drug is expected to save precious lives due to the mechanism of operation of the drug in infected cells and it also reduces the hospital stay of COVID-19 patients.

The ministry on Saturday morning said 401,078 new cases and 4,187 related deaths were registered in the past 24 hours across the country.

Xinhua