Wockhardt becomes the first Indian company to acquire approval for its new antibiotics, EMROK (IV) and EMROK O (Oral), from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI). These drugs have been found effective in curing cases of acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections including diabetic foot infections & concurrent bacteraemia based on the Phase 3 study involving 500 patients in 40 centres across India. The new drugs will target superbugs like Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA), which is a leading cause of the Rising Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR).

The Indian Antibiotic segmen,t with a market capitalization of Rs. 16,000 crore, constitutes a 12 percent market share in the Indian pharmaceuticals market. Growing at the rate of seven percent YoY, it is one of the largest therapeutic segments in the industry. Through its extensive range of products like formulations, biopharmaceuticals, nutrition products, vaccines & Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs), Wockhardt stands-out as one of the biggest players in the domain.

AMR has been a major health challenge globally. With a 38 percent resistance, India carries one of the largest burdens of drug resistant pathogens worldwide. The infections caused by these drug-resistant organisms could be as lethal as increased mortality & prolonged hospitalization duration, causing a huge financial burden to the affected persons, healthcare systems, and hinder the goals of sustainable development. With two million deaths due to AMR projected to occur in India by 2050, it is high time to act against these life threatening microbes.

I believe EMROK/EMROK-O has a strong potential to effectively address the unmet medical need of the clinicians in the country thereby helping to reduce the morbidity and mortality

Commenting on this achievement, Dr. Habil Khorakiwala, Founder & Chairman, Wockhardt Group, says, “By virtue of its broad spectrum activity against widely prevalent pathogens including MRSA, superior safety over the currently available anti-MRSA agents and its unique properties, I believe EMROK/EMROK-O has a strong potential to effectively address the unmet medical need of the clinicians in the country thereby helping to reduce the morbidity and mortality”.

World Health Organization (WHO) has already listed MRSA as a ‘high’ priority pathogen in 2017 due to high prevalence of resistance, mortality rate, and the burden it is on community & health care settings. A national study conducted by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and Anti-microbial Resistant Surveillance Network (AMRSN) Group in 2018 too highlights the high prevalence of MSRA in India. Moreover, a recent study reveals that one in six patients in India infected with multidrug resistant gram positive infections die in Intensive Care Units (ICU).

With most of the currently available anti-MRSA agents causing several severe side-effects such as kidney damage, decrease in platelet cell counts, muscle pain, to name a few; their prolonged use can be lethal for the critical patients already in ICUs. Furthermore, the patient management is complicated due to the increasing resistance to these agents and drying antimicrobial pipeline. As such, the EMROK & EMROK O - the Modern Gram positive Antibiotic against MRSA infections is sure to be a godsend boon to the patients.