PATIENCE PAYS FOR WOCKHARDT

AFTER SPENDING NEARLY ₹6,800 CRORE AND MORE THAN TWO DECADES, WOCKHARDT HAS ACHIEVED WHAT NO INDIAN PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANY HAS BEFORE: US FDA APPROVAL FOR A NOVEL DRUG DISCOVERED AND DEVELOPED IN-HOUSE. ZAYNICH IS EXPECTED TO DRIVE WOCKHARDT’S NEXT PHASE OF GROWTH AFTER IT RETURNED TO PROFITABILITY IN FY26

- BY NEETU CHANDRA SHARMA @neetu_csharma

IN MAY 2026, Wockhardt’s antibiotic Zaynich became the first novel molecule discovered, developed and owned entirely by an Indian firm to receive US FDA approval. For an industry that built its global reputation on generics and biosimilars, it was a historic moment. But Habil Khorakiwala, who bankrolled this 25-year programme, knows the harder part is still ahead.

After all, he has just seen the company through one of its toughest periods. Wockhardt returned to profitability in FY26 after years of losses. Debt has been pared down from ₹3,213 crore in FY20 to ₹1,859 crore in FY25. The base business—formulations, insulin and UK operations—is stable and growing. Can Zaynich, a novel antibiotic approved for complicated urinary tract infections and designed to tackle multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacterial infections, be the drug that drives Wockhardt well into the future. Can it justify two decades of investment and make Wockhardt’s turnaround sustainable?

The management has pegged peak annual sales potential at $1.5-2 billion. The global addressable market is $7-9 billion. While these are significant, they are also—as the history of antibiotic launches will attest—numbers that have humbled companies far larger than Wockhardt.

A TOUGH BET

“Zaynich is the first drug from the Indian pharmaceutical industry to receive US FDA approval after being discovered and developed in-house,” Khorakiwala tells BT. Wockhardt’s decision to invest in discovering the drug came at a time when antibiotic research had lost momentum and many large drugmakers were pulling back from the field.