The Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), a Government of India enterprise, presented the “BIRAC Innovator Award 2024” to Dr. Habil Khorakiwala, Chairman of Wockhardt. The award was accepted on his behalf by Dr. Mahesh Patel, Chief Scientific Officer of Drug Discovery Research, during the “Global Bio – India 2024” event in New Delhi.
This accolade recognizes Wockhardt’s groundbreaking innovation and research, particularly the development of Nafithromycin (Miqna ), the first-ever antibiotic effective against multi-drug resistant pathogens for treating Community-Acquired Bacterial Pneumonia.
Miqnaf (Nafithromycin) addresses a significant medical gap as current treatments like Azithromycin and Amoxicillin + Clavulanic acid have either faced resistance from contemporary respiratory pathogens or fail to cover the full spectrum of pathogens causing Community-Acquired Bacterial Pneumonia. Consequently, many patients require hospitalization due to the limitations of existing treatments. Miqnaf (Nafithromycin), with its once-a-day, ultra-short 3-day oral regimen, has the potential to reduce the need for hospitalization for many patients.
The discovery and development of Nafithromycin at Wockhardt took over 12 years and included multiple Phase 1 and Phase 2 clinical trials conducted in the USA and Europe. Nafithromycin has successfully completed Phase III clinical trials in India and is now awaiting approval from the DCGI.
For the first time in 33 years, Miqnaf (Nafithromycin) represents a new macrolide drug, offering an innovative solution for treating millions of community respiratory infections with a convenient home-based oral therapy.