Earlier this week, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan released the first batch of the drug 2-DG. It comes a few weeks after the drug was approved by the Drugs Controller General of India on May 1, for emergency use in Covid-19 treatment. 

The drug has been developed at the Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS) lab, which is a part of the Defense Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), in collaboration with Dr Reddy’s Laboratories (DRL). According to an Indian Express report, their development is based on a paper from March 2020, which is linked to the Haridwar-based Patanjali Research Institute.