Wockhardt rallies 19% and here is what sparked it

Shares of Wockhardt jumped 19% after the company announced that the US Food and Drug Administration has officially accepted its New Drug Application for Zaynich, a first of its kind antibiotic.

Zaynich is Wockhardt’s new antibiotic designed to fight tough, drug resistant bacterial infections, an area where the world has seen very few real breakthroughs in recent years. 

Here is why this is big: this is the first time the US FDA has accepted a New Drug Application for a completely new chemical entity developed by an Indian company.

Wockhardt said it remains committed to advancing Zaynich through the regulatory process. The goal is also to introduce a new antibacterial solution to global markets at a time when the world urgently needs fresh tools to fight rising antimicrobial resistance.

Bottomline: most large pharma companies have stepped back from antibiotic research because it is costly and less profitable, leaving only a handful of players working on breakthrough molecules. An Indian company pushing a new drug into the US system stands out against this global backdrop.