“We are facing liquidity challenges; the fund raise will help us to focus on business,” said Dr Habil Khorakiwala, chairperson of Wockhardt, to ET.
Khorakiwala said he expects Wockhardt revenues to grow 20% and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and ammortisation (EBITDA) by 3%.
Following the repayment of external debt, Wockhardt will still be left with debt of ₹1,000 crore it owes to the promoter Khorakiwala family.
Wockhardt is investing $25 million on a late-stage global clinical trial of its lead antibiotic drug candidate, WCK5222, across 70 centres in 11 countries including the US, Europe, India, China and Latin America.
“We have completed two-thirds of the trial, and expect US approval in early 2025,” Khorakiwala said.Khorakiwala added that they are exploring out-licensing deals to commercialise the drug in North America, Europe and Japan while the company will do it on its own in India and other emerging markets.WCK5222, called Zaynich, belongs to a new class of antibiotic known as “ß-lactam enhance”. The drug is used to treat complicated urinary tract infections, including acute pyelonephritis – a bacterial infection affecting kidneys. For its other novel drug WCK4873, used to treat community-acquired bacterial pneumonia, Wockhardt is planning to complete India trials and launch it before the end of this year.
