Spero Therapeutics, a Massachusetts-based biopharmaceutical company, announced on May 3 that it will lay off 75% of its workforce after a discussion with the Food and Drug Administration regarding its New Drug Application for tebipenem HBr, an oral carbapenem antibiotic to treat complicated urinary tract infections (cUTI). While the FDA has not formally rejected the application yet, Spero, sensing the impending dismissal, decided to thin its personnel, resulting in its stock plummeting to the lowest point in its history. 

The Project Responsible: Tebipenem HBr

Spero’s primary product candidate for several years running was Tebipenem HBr which went through Phase 3 clinical trials. Tebipenem HBr is designed to use carbapenem antibiotics in oral form to help patients dealing with cUTI transition from intravenous injected carbapenem antibiotics in the hospital to an oral treatment at home. Currently, carbapenem antibiotics are only available in intravenous injection form.