Prognosis
Deadly Superbugs Win as Wall Street Flees Makers of Antibiotics
- Tetraphase to slash research, focus on marketing approved drug
- Small biotech firms selling bacteria fighters are struggling
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Four years ago, antibiotics developer Tetraphase Pharmaceuticals Inc. had a market value of almost $2 billion. Now its shares trade for about 70 cents as investors flee the market for new drugs that kill bacterial infections.
To survive, the company said last week it would cut research, reduce staff and try to divest three drugs it has in development. It plans to focus all of its efforts on marketing Xerava, a recently approved hospital drug that fights particularly tough abdominal infections.