Spero Therapeutics Receives Grant from NIH

Spero Therapeutics announced it has received a grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to conduct additional preclinical studies of SPR720, the company's novel oral bacterial gyrase inhibitor, for the treatment of tuberculosis (TB). The non-dilutive grant of $564,718 is part of the NIH's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program (Grant Number: 1R44AI131749-01).

As part of this research program, Spero will collaborate with the Central New York Research Corporation to assess the safety and efficacy of SPR720 in combination with rifampin and other existing standard-of-care drugs in preclinical models of both drug-susceptible TB and multidrug resistant (MDR) TB. The goal of the research is to assess novel combinations that could potentially shorten the duration of treatment and identify new drug combinations that would be effective against MDR TB.

"We are pleased with the progress we have made in characterizing the utility of SPR720 in non-tuberculous mycobacteria since acquiring the compound last year and we are excited to expand our research to TB," Ankit Mahadevia, M.D., Chief Executive Officer of Spero said. "Our strategy is focused on discovering, developing and commercializing antibiotics in areas of unmet need. Like NTM, TB has high rates of mortality and current treatment options are becoming less effective as the rate of multidrug resistance continues to grow."

The World Health Organization reports that about one-third of the world's population has been infected by TB bacteria, Mycobacterium tuberculosis. In 2015, 10.4 million people around the world became sick with TB and 1.8 million people died from the disease.

Spero is currently investigating the potential of SPR720 in TB as well as non-tuberculous mycobacteria lung disease, a rare and often chronic fatal infection for which there are no approved treatments.