Drug Controller General of India (DGCI) has approved 2DG for emergency use as an adjunct therapy drug in moderate to severe COVID-19 patients. Following this on 17 May 2021, the Union Health & Defense ministers released the first batch of 2DG drug. It is in this regard a social media post advising people who are in need of the drug to reach out to Dr. Deepak Sapra (deepaksapra@drreddys.com) and Dr. Mallikarjun Rao (mallikarjunard@drreddys.com), is going viral. Through this article let’s fact-check the veracity of the post.
Claim: Contact details Dr. Reddy Labs for procuring 2DG drug.
Fact: Dr. Reddy’s through a tweet stated that these contact details regarding the procurement of 2DG are incorrect. Also, the tweet requested to contact 2DG@drreddys.com for all queries related to 2DG. Their tweet has also advised people to beware of agents selling spurious or illegal products in the name of 2DG. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
In reply to a Twitter user’s query regarding the veracity of the same message, Dr. Reddy’s has categorically stated that the piece of information is incorrect, and the tweet requested people contact 2DG@drreddys.com for all queries related to 2DG.
Further, the tweet shared some important information regarding the drug which is as follows.
- Emergency use approval has been granted in India for anti-COVID-19 therapeutic application of the drug 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2DG) developed by INMAS, a lab of the DRDO, in collaboration with Dr Reddy’s Laboratories.
- 2DG is an oral anti-viral drug that can be administered only upon prescription to hospitalised moderate to severe COVID-19 patients as adjunct (add on) therapy along with existing standard of care.
- 2DG has not yet been launched into the market. The price per sachet has not yet been announced.
- Commercial launch and supply of 2DG to major Government and private hospitals is expected to commence in mid-June 2021. Price is being determined with a view to making it accessible and affordable to as many patients as possible and will be announced soon.
Further, the tweet advised people to beware of agents selling spurious or illegal products in the name of 2DG. News articles that give a low down on the drug can be read here and here. With this, we can conclude that the contact info regarding the procurement of 2DG drug shared in the post is incorrect.
To sum it up, this contact info of Dr. Reddy’s regarding 2DG drug procurement is incorrect.
