Wockhardt To Focus On Drug Discovery And Biologics: Chairman Khorakiwala On Exiting US Generics Business

Pharmaceutical major Wockhardt Ltd. is going to shift its focus to drug discovery and biologics after exiting the US generics business.

The company’s strategic move will stop financial losses and redirect resources towards drug discovery in antibiotics and biologics for diabetes and obesity, according to its Founder Chairman and Group CEO, Dr Habil Khorakiwala.

“We want to spend all our investment in drug discovery and biologics. We were incurring losses. In fact, last year, we lost about $8 million. So to get the company focused on the future strategic area, we felt that it's better to exit the US business,” he said during a conversation with NDTV Profit on Monday. 

In line with its aim to become an innovation-driven pharma company announced exiting the US generics business. As a part of the structural realignment, Wockhardt has filed for voluntary liquidation under Chapter 7 of the US Bankruptcy Code, as per the stock exchange filing dated July 11.

Commenting on the possible impact of exiting the US generics business in FY26, he said, “The impact will be limited in the sense that whatever happened up to the time we have exited will be factored. After that, we do not expect anything to have a financial impact on our performance for the rest of the year.”

Khorakiwala added that the US business contributed only about 3% to the company’s top line. “It should improve our margin over a period of time.”

While Wockhardt is stepping away from generics, the company plans a re-entry into the United States market with a portfolio of new drugs. 

“As far as pharma generics are concerned, we will not be re-entering the market. However, we have this portfolio of new drugs, new antibiotics and for which we will certainly re-enter the market soon,” he said. 

Wockhardt will now focus on its “robust performance” in India, the UK and Ireland. The company is particularly optimistic about two drugs: Miqnaf and Zaynich.

Miqnaf is a drug for treating Community-Acquired Bacterial Pneumonia (CABP) in adults. Discussing the drug, the top executive said, “We have received excellent response from pulmonologists and chest specialists. And we believe it should do well over a period of time.”

The company expects to launch Zaynich in the latter part of 2026 or early 2027. 

Shares of Wockhardt were trading 3.41% higher at Rs 1,817 apiece on the NSE at 3:10 p.m., while the benchmark Nifty50 stood at 25,072.95, down 0.31%.