Orchid Pharma ties up with Cipla for new UTI drug’s distribution

Chennai-based Orchid Pharma Ltd today announced the launch of its new drug - Cefepime-Enmetazobactam, meant for the treatment of complicated Urinary Tract infections (cUTI), Hospital-Acquired Pneumonia (HAP) and Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia (VAP) indications. The company also said in a press release that it had partnered with Cipla Ltd for distribution of the drug.

The significance of Cefepime-Enmetazobactam is that it is meant to overcome anti-microbial resistance (OMR), which happens when microbes such as bacteria mutate and develop resistance to existing antibiotics. The antibiotics then become useless to kill that strain of microbe, and the disease does not go away. AMR is a global menace and is prevalent in India too. 

Enmetazobactum was discovered by Orchid Pharma around 2008, when the company was under the management of its founder-promoter, K Raghavendra Rao. The company has since changed hands and the new promoter is the Delhi-based Dhanuka group, which acquired Orchid Pharma through the insolvency process. The drug is one of the few new drug molecules discovered in India—so it is indeed a made-in-India drug.  

Because Orchid Pharma was passing through a bad phase financially, it sold the rights to sell Enmetazobactum all over the world except India to a German company called Allecra. Allecra was also responsible for doing the three phases of clinical trials, which it did. It recently got approval from the US Food and Drug Administration to sell it in the US—making Enmetazobactum the first India-made drug to be approved for sales in the US. The Indian regulator has since given Orchid exemption from having to do clinical trials in India, taking a view that the US FDA is good enough. 

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Drug sales

It is estimated that the drug sales could reach an annual value of about ₹100 crore, in about 2-3 years. For 2023-24, Orchid Pharma reported sales of ₹819 crore, net profit of ₹94.75 crore and per-share earnings of ₹19.59. 

“The partnership between Orchid Pharma and Cipla combines Orchid’s innovative drug development capabilities with Cipla’s extensive distribution network and market presence. This collaboration aims to ensure that this life-saving medication reaches healthcare providers across India as quickly and efficiently as possible,” Orchid’s press release says. 

On the BSE today, the Orchid Pharma share closed at ₹1,139.85, (58 times 2023-24 earnings), which was ₹22.40 (1.93 per cent) lower than the previous close.