Wockhardt gains 4% as drug shows 97% efficacy for drug-resistant bacteria

Shares of Wockhardt were in high demand on Monday after the company said that its drug Zaynich has achieved over 97 per cent clinical efficacy in treating critically ill patients with carbapenem-resistant Gram-negative infections, including meropenem-resistant strains. 

 

Wockhardt share price rose 3.96 per cent at Rs 1,441.95 per share on the BSE in intraday trade. 

 

The study encompassed severe infections such as hospital-acquired bacterial pneumonia (HABP), ventilator-associated bacterial pneumonia (VABP), bloodstream infections (BSI), complicated intra-abdominal infections (cIAI), and complicated urinary tract infections (cUTI). Notably, 17 per cent of patients had concurrent bloodstream infections, adding to the therapeutic complexity.

 

“Zaynich delivered a 98 per cent overall efficacy rate at the test-of-cure phase (7–10 days post-treatment) and achieved 100 per cent efficacy for BSI, HABP/VABP, and cIAI. The drug also showed high pathogen eradication rates, with 91 per cent microbiological cure for HABP/VABP and 100 per cent for BSI,” the company said in a statement on Monday. 

 

The study, conducted across 15 top-tier tertiary care hospitals, exclusively included patients with confirmed carbapenem-resistant infections caused by extensively drug-resistant (XDR) pathogens such as Acinetobacter spp., Pseudomonas spp., Klebsiella spp., and E. coli. Treatment durations ranged from 7 to 21 days, and the study protocol was approved by the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI).

 

Zaynich, a combination of Zidebactam & Cefepime, is Wockhardt’s novel proprietary antibiotic, targeted towards multi-drug resistant Gram-negative infections. It is currently nearing completion of a multi-national Phase III study which would support its registration/marketing authorisation globally.  Earlier, several Phase I studies including clinical pharmacology studies with zidebactam/cefepime were conducted in US. As India has significantly higher rates of meropenem-resistant infections, Phase II study was conducted in India to generate a robust evidence of Zaynich®’s effectiveness in overcoming the challenge posed by AMR, the company said. 

 

The company has a total market capitalisation of Rs 22,615.23 crore. At 12:42 PM, the stock price of the company advanced by 0.36 per cent at Rs 1392 a piece on the BSE. By comparison, the BSE’s Sensex was down 0.79 per cent to 76,767.69 level.