Also in phase 3 testing is Wockhardt’s MIQNAF brand name nafithromycin, a three-day oral treatment for community-acquired bacterial pneumonia with a 97% success rate. Existing methods of treatment of the disease have a resistance of up to 60%. Its trials are due to conclude next year, and once approved, the company says its commercial launch could be at the end of next year.
Bugworks Research, a 30-member Bangalore-based biopharmaceutical company, is collaborating with the Geneva-based nonprofit Global Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership (GARDP) to develop a new class of antibiotics to treat serious drug-resistant infections. Currently in early phase 1 trials, the drug is ready for market in five to eight years.
“Antibiotics are becoming less effective, but a lot of money is going into drugs for cancer, diabetes and other diseases, not antibiotics,” Anand Anandkumar, chief executive of Bugworks, told the BBC. “There are few innovations because antibiotics are kept as a last resort. Big pharma doesn’t focus on antibiotic resistance. We are funded by various organizations but less than 10% of our funding comes from India.”
But that needs to change. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Drug Resistance Surveillance Report 2023, which analyzed nearly 100,000 bacterial cultures from 21 specialized hospitals across India, highlighted alarming trends in antibiotic resistance.
Escherichia coli ( Escherichia coli ), which is commonly found in the intestines of humans and animals after eating contaminated food, was the most commonly isolated pathogen.
This was followed by Klebsiella pneumoniae, which can cause pneumonia and also infect blood, cuts on the skin and lining of the brain, causing meningitis. A multidrug-resistant pathogen called Acinetobacter baumannii, which attacks the lungs of patients on life support in intensive care units, was on the rise.
The survey found that the effectiveness of antibiotics against Escherichia coli has consistently declined sharply, while Klebsiella pneumoniae has shown an alarming rise in drug resistance. Doctors found that some of the mainstream antibiotics were less than 15% effective in treating infections caused by these pathogens. Of greatest concern is the rise of resistance to carbapenems, a critical antibiotic of last resort.
