Wockhardt shares rally over 5 percent after Zaynich used to treat pan-drug resistant infection

Shares of Wockhardt were sharply higher by over 5 percent on July 28 after the drug company issued a statement citing a medical case involving the use of Zaynich - its novel antibiotic - in treating a critically ill US liver transplant patient who was suffering from a pan-drug resistant infection.

Wockhardt shared the details of a successful use of Zaynich in treating an infection resistant to all available antibiotics in America. The case study was published in the latest issue of the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy – AMR, a leading publication by the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, and jointly authored by US clinicians from leading hospitals - Houston Methodist Hospital, Weill Cornell Medical College and Johns Hopkins.

The patient was infected with two different pathogens, both resistant to all recently-introduced antibiotics, leading to pan-drug resistance.

"Initially, the patient was treated for 10 weeks with cefiderocol and eravacycline (a novel tetracycline antibiotic), but the infection persisted, and the Pseudomonas strain became resistant to cefiderocol. The patient continued to suffer from fever and chills, and imaging tests showed new abscesses in the liver — clear signs that the infection was not under control," the company filing informed. Subsequently, an emergency access to Zaynich was sought, that led to encouraring results. "The antibiotic was administered for 14 days around the time of the liver transplant. The results were remarkable - within 11 days, the patient improved clinically and transferred from ICU to regular floor, and follow-up imaging showed no signs of active infection," Wockhardt added.