India Releases Its First Anti-COVID Drug (2-DG) Developed by DRDO
DRDO releases a new drug called 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG) that fights against severe SARS-CoV-2 (coronavirus) infections.
DRDO releases a new drug called 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG) that fights against severe SARS-CoV-2 (coronavirus) infections.
‘Opaganib was effective in reducing the need for supplemental oxygen in COVID-19 patients. 50% of patients treated with opaganib reached room air by Day 14.’
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"The need for an effective oral therapy to treat COVID-19 is clear. Such a therapy would greatly improve our ability to manage this pandemic," said Kevin Winthrop, MD, MPH, Professor of Infectious Diseases at Oregon Health & Science University. He is the one who presented the findings at WMF. Opaganib - The new antiviral
Opaganib is a new chemical entity that selectively inhibits sphingosine kinase-2 (SK2). This inhibition impairs the activities of SK2, including the immune-modulation and suppression of innate immune responses from T-cells.
Guidelines for Using Anti-COVID Drug 2-DG are Out Now
DRDO released a brief guideline on Twitter regarding the usage of the 2-DG drug in COVID patients.
DRDO released a brief guideline on Twitter regarding the usage of the 2-DG drug in COVID patients.
This drug is a product of RedHill Biopharma Ltd., a specialty biopharmaceutical company. It demonstrated anti-SARS-CoV-2 activities in some studies.
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A Phase 2/3 study of opaganib completed enrollment on 6th June 2021. A total of 475 patients with severe COVID-19 from ten countries were enrolled in the study.
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Test your Knowledge on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Coronavirus is a large positive-strand RNA virus that is surrounded by a protein envelope. The virus obtains its name from the S protein spikes on its surface, which resemble a crown. The overall pattern of increasing coronavirus cases is shown to spike up with the “second wave” of COVID-19.
With spiking effects of the second wave of coronavirus, the best way to keep it at bay is to follow COVID-appropriate safety practices like wearing a mask, regularly cleaning your hands, and coughing into a bent elbow or tissue along with physical distancing (6 feet about 2 arm's length), that may help evade the severity of COVID-19 infection.
Coronavirus is a large positive-strand RNA virus that is surrounded by a protein envelope. The virus obtains its name from the S protein spikes on its surface, which resemble a crown. The overall pattern of increasing coronavirus cases is shown to spike up with the “second wave” of COVID-19.
With spiking effects of the second wave of coronavirus, the best way to keep it at bay is to follow COVID-appropriate safety practices like wearing a mask, regularly cleaning your hands, and coughing into a bent elbow or tissue along with physical distancing (6 feet about 2 arm's length), that may help evade the severity of COVID-19 infection.
The current announcement by RedHill Pharma is from the results of post-hoc analyses of data from the 40-patient U.S. Phase 2 study.
Key findings of the analyses include (as per the original release by RedHill Biopharma),
• 50% of patients (22 participants) treated with opaganib reached room air by Day 14 regardless of whether the patients were receiving dexamethasone and/or remdesivir compared to 22% (18 participants) in the placebo group.
• 86.4% of patients treated with opaganib were discharged from hospital by Day 14 compared to 55.6% of patients treated with placebo
• The median time to discharge was 6 days for the opaganib group compared to 7.5 days for the placebo group
• 81.8% of opaganib patients achieved a 2-point improvement in the WHO Ordinal Scale in a median time of 6 days compared to 55.6% of patients in the placebo group who achieved it in a median time of 7.5 days
• No significant differences in safety-related measures between the two groups (with diarrhea being the main treatment-emergent difference in tolerability)
"Opaganib acts on both the cause and effect of COVID-19 via a unique dual antiviral and anti-inflammatory mode of action. Being host-targeted, opaganib is also expected to maintain effect against the emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants, which continue to threaten the progress being made against the pandemic and underscore the urgent need for effective COVID-19 therapeutics," added Mark L. Levitt, MD, Ph.D., Medical Director at RedHill.
Source-Medindia
