In a significant move, India recently launched its first indigenously developed antibiotic, naftrimycin, also known as Miknaf, to fight the deadly bacterial infection, which can cause death in patients when the pathogen is no longer present. Do not respond to antibiotics, a condition commonly called antimicrobial resistance. Or AMR.

Doctors say AMR occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites do not respond to antimicrobial drugs.

Developed by Maharashtra-based Wockhardt Ltd, the drug works against multidrug-resistant isolates. “Drug-resistant pneumonia is a condition that is responsible for more than two million deaths globally every year. India, which bears 23 percent of the world’s burden of community pneumonia, faces challenges with existing treatments, including widespread resistance to drugs like azithromycin,” the Union Ministry of Science and Technology said in a press release. Said.

How does naphithromycin work?,

According to experts, nafithromycin is ten times more potent and provides eight times more risk to the lungs than azithromycin. It will have to be taken once a day for three days. It claims superior safety and tolerability and even has a clinical cure rate of 96.7 percent.

The efficacy of nafithromycin is unique as it targets both typical and atypical pathogens, offering a powerful solution where no new antibiotics have been developed in this class worldwide for more than three decades. Remarkably, it is ten times more effective than azithromycin and achieves comparable results with only a three-day regimen, as validated by clinical trials.

According to the ministry, the development of napithromycin represents 14 years of dedicated research and an investment of Rs 500 crore, including clinical trials in the US, Europe and India. Supported by BIRAC under its Biotechnology Industry Partnership Program (BIPP), this initiative demonstrates the power of public-private collaboration in advancing health care innovation.

The government says the drug is now awaiting final approval from the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) for manufacturing and public use, marking a major leap in India’s fight against AMR.

What is AMR?

According to the World Health Organization, AMR is one of the top global public health and development threats, directly responsible for 1.27 million global deaths over the past three years. Misuse and overuse of antimicrobials in humans, animals and plants are the main factors in the development of drug-resistant pathogens,

AMR threatens many of the gains of modern medicine, making infections harder to treat and other medical procedures and treatments – such as surgery, cesarean sections and cancer chemotherapy – too risky.

Experts say there is a worldwide antibiotics pipeline and access crisis, inadequate research and development given rising levels of resistance, and additional measures are urgently needed to ensure equitable access to new and existing vaccines, diagnostics and medicines.

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