Wockhardt aims to launch antibiotic with USD 25 billion market potential by early FY26

Drugmaker Wockhardt on Friday said research and trials on the antibiotic Zaynich are progressing satisfactorily, and it is aiming for an early FY26 launch.

Zaynich has a market potential of USD 25 billion, the city-based company's founder chairman Habil Khorakiwala told reporters here.

The company has invested over USD 500 million on its research efforts till now, which have yielded six successes, including Zaynich which are at different levels of development and marketing, he said.

Zaynich has been granted a susceptibility breakpoint of 64 mg per litre for around 10 gram negative pathogens showing high resistance rates by the American Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute, according to a statement.

He said the company expects the final approvals from the Indian regulators to launch the antibiotic by the end of FY25 and will soon be launching it commercially after that.

For the developed markets as well, the company expects approvals to come in similar timelines or maybe with some lag, Khorakiwala said, outlining the commercial strategies.

In India, the company plans to sell the antibiotic at a tenth of the price in developed markets, and will primarily be targetting pneumonia patients, he said.

In the developed markets, it will be looking for partners willing to establish networks to sell the antibiotic, he said.

Khorakiwala said that antibiotic resistance levels are as high as 60 per cent locally and at an elevated 35 per cent globally which makes it a decent opportunity.

The antibiotic is showing efficacy in both treatment and safety in the trials, he claimed.The company used USD 25 million from a recent Rs 480 crore equity capital raise towards the research and development of Zaynich, while Rs 100 crore was utilised to reduce the debt, an official said.

The external debt stands at about Rs 900 crore, of which Rs 500 crore is for working capital purposes, Khorakiwala said, stressing that it is comfortable from a liquidity standpoint.

Apart from this, the company has also borrowed Rs 1,000 crore from the promoter Khorakiwala family, he said, adding that the family is comfortable and not in a hurry for repayments, especially given the business opportunity it sees.

Shares of Wockhardt gained 4.99 per cent to close at Rs 686.40 apiece on the BSE, as against a 0.27 per cent correction on the benchmark.