Shares of Armata Pharmaceuticals rose after the company got breakthrough therapy designation from the Food and Drug Administration for a potential antibacterial treatment.

The stock gained 10% to $5.92 in premarket trading on Monday. As of Friday's market close, shares were down 14% year to date.

The breakthrough designation expedites the review of medicines that treat serious or life-threatening conditions, and that have shown the potential for substantial improvement over available therapies based on preliminary clinical evidence.

Armata said it got the designation for AP-SA02, its intravenously-administered product candidate for adjunct treatment of complicated bacteremia caused by methicillin-sensitive staphylococcus aureus or methicillin-resistant S. aureus.

Complicated S. aureus bacteremia is a serious bloodstream infection associated with significant relapse rate, morbidity and mortality, the company said.

The company said it plans to work closely with the FDA to efficiently advance the development and review of AP-SA02, with the goal of bringing the potential new treatment option to patients as quickly as possible.