Centerpiece
Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh officially introduced the first domestic antibiotic, Nafithromycin, for drug-resistant diseases, marking a significant milestone for India's biotechnology industry.
With assistance from the Department of Biotechnology's Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), the antibiotic Nafithromycin was developed and marketed by pharmaceutical company Wockardt under the trade name Miqnaf. It is the first antibiotic created domestically in the nation to combat antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
The three-day Nafithromycin treatment plan, according to Dr. Jitendra Singh, is revolutionary in the fight against drug-resistant pneumonia, which claims the lives of more than two million people annually worldwide. Problems with current treatments, such as widespread resistance to medications like azithromycin, are present in India, which accounts for 23% of the global community pneumonia burden.
The Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) helped Wockhardt create the novel antibiotic, which is 10 times more effective than existing treatments and provides patients with a quicker, safer, and more palatable choice.
Since no new antibiotic in this class has been created globally in more than thirty years, nafithromycin's effectiveness is noteworthy since it targets both common and uncommon bacteria, providing a powerful remedy. Clinical research have confirmed that it is ten times more effective than azithromycin and produces similar results with a three-day regimen.
Nafithromycin's development is the result of 14 years of devoted research, 500 crores of rupees, and clinical trials conducted in the US, Europe, and India. The effort, which is funded by BIRAC through its Biotechnology Industry Partnership Program (BIPP), exemplifies how public-private cooperation may propel healthcare innovation. A significant step forward in India's fight against AMR, Dr. Jitendra Singh noted that the medication is currently awaiting final approval from the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) for manufacturing and public usage.