Wockhardt zooms 19% to hit 52-week high—here's why

In a filing to the stock exchanges, the pharmaceutical company said that Wockhardt NCE, WCK 4873, termed as ‘Nafithromycin’ was comparatively evaluated in a multicentre double-blind Phase 3 of pneumonia study, which employs the last-line respiratory antibiotic Moxifloxacin.

The findings of the third phase of the study were found to be in line with that of the Phase 2 study, conducted in the United States and Europe, the company added. The results of the Phase 3 study showed that an ultrashort course of three-day treatment with Nafithromycin turned out to be as effective as a seven-day therapy with Moxifloxacin.

It was found that Nafithromycin showcases a remarkable feature of sustained high lung concentration built-up over a period of five days, after dosing of only three days. This was revealed after a human lung penetration study conducted in the US.

“Human Lung exposure of Nafithromycin is 8 times higher than Azithromycin and potency being 10-100 times higher for certain respiratory pathogens,” noted Wockhardt in an official release dated December 11.

Wockhardt has a market capitalisation of ₹5,619 crore, while its shares have given impressive returns of 76% so far this year, gaining sharply by 62.6% over the past month alone.

Shares of Wockhardt were trading 17.13% higher at ₹393.1 per piece on BSE at 12:55 PM.