Paratek Pharmaceuticals Presents New Preclinical Data on Novel Aminomethylcycline Antibiotic MK-2764 at 46th Annual ICAAC

    BOSTON, Oct. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Paratek Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced
 today that it presented new preclinical data on MK-2764 (formerly PTK
 0796), a novel broad spectrum aminomethylcycline antibiotic derived from
 the tetracycline class, at the 46th Annual Interscience Conference on
 Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC) last week.
     MK-2764 represents a new class of antibiotic that has shown potent
 activity in animal models against multi-drug resistant and susceptible
 Gram- positive, Gram-negative, anaerobic and atypical bacteria. Oral and
 injectable forms of MK-2764 are in Phase I clinical development for the
 potential treatment of community and hospital respiratory tract, skin and
 skin structure and other bacterial infections. MK-2764 was discovered by
 Paratek and is being developed with Merck & Co., Inc. as part of a
 collaboration agreement announced in March.
     The presentations at this year's ICAAC on September 30th, covering
 studies conducted prior to Paratek's agreement with Merck, are the most
 complete demonstration to date of the activity of MK-2764, according to Dr.
 Ken Tanaka, Vice President of Research and Development for Paratek. "In one
 study, MK- 2764 was potent against all tested strains of
 methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) and
 methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)," Dr. Tanaka said.
 "These and other research findings presented here at ICAAC are indicators
 of the breadth of applications of MK-2764 and its potential importance,
 especially in addressing bacterial resistance to antibiotics."
     Stuart B. Levy, M.D., Co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of
 Paratek, noted that new antibiotic agents "are urgently needed to address
 the growing threat of difficult-to-treat, multi-drug resistant infectious
 disease agents."
     "Of tremendous concern are community-acquired strains of MRSA, which
 are estimated to represent more than half of all skin infections treated in
 U.S. emergency rooms," Dr. Levy added. "There are few agents available that
 work reliably against these resistant strains now prevalent in skin
 infections in the community and hospital. Paratek's MK-2764 has the
 potential to be a new treatment option in settings where MRSA infections
 typically occur."
     Studies at ICAAC
     Four studies demonstrating the activity of MK-2764 against resistant
 and atypical bacteria and tissue-based pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic
 studies of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial infections were
 presented at the 46th Annual Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial
 Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC) in San Francisco, CA.
     These four studies were presented in the Poster Summary Session #226 on
 Saturday, September 30, 2006, at 10:00am-11:30am in Room 103.
     -- "Antistaphylococcal Activity of MK-2764/PTK 0796 Compared to Other
        Agents," K. SMITH, S.K. TANAKA, P.C. APPELBAUM.  MK-2764/PTK 0796, a
        new aminomethylcycline, is potent against all S.aureus strains tested,
        irrespective of antibiotic resistance.  Poster F1-1971.
 
     -- "In Vivo Pharmacodynamics of MK-2764/PTK 0796 against Various
        Gram-Positive and Gram-Negative Bacteria in the Thighs of Neutropenic
        and Normal Mice," W.A. CRAIG, D. ANDES, A. ODINECS.  MK-2764/PTK 0796
        exhibits potent efficacy against gram-positive and gram-negative
        pathogens including MSSA, MRSA, SP, EC and KP in animal studies.
        Poster F1-1974.
 
     -- "Pharmacokinetic/Pharmacodynamic Profile of MK-2764/PTK 0796 against
        S. pneumoniae in a Murine Pneumonia Model," P. R. TESSIER, H. W. FAN,
        S. K. TANAKA, D. P. NICOLAU.  MK-2764/PTK 0796 is an effective agent
        against the pneumococcus in this animal model, and the pharmacodynamic
        parameter predictive of antibacterial activity is the (free)AUC/MIC.
        Poster F1-1973.
 
     -- "In Vitro Activity of MK-2764 / PTK 0796 against Legionella sp.,"
        J. DUBOIS, S. K. TANAKA.  These data confirm the activity of this novel
        aminomethylcycline antibiotic, MK-2764 / PTK 0796, against Legionella
        spp, the cause of Legionella pneumonia.  Poster F1-1972.
 
     About Paratek Pharmaceuticals
     Paratek Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is engaged in the discovery and
 commercialization of new therapeutics that treat serious and
 life-threatening diseases, with a particular focus on the growing worldwide
 problem of antibiotic resistance. Paratek is advancing novel compounds that
 can circumvent or block bacterial resistance. Paratek's lead compound,
 MK-2764/PTK 0796, being developed in collaboration with Merck, has the
 potential to be a broad spectrum antibiotic with oral and IV formulations
 for the treatment of the most common community and hospital bacterial
 infections, including those caused by resistant strains such as MRSA.
 Paratek is developing small molecule drugs that can prevent infection by
 interfering with Multiple Adaptational Response (MAR) mechanisms in
 bacteria.
     Outside the antibacterial therapeutic area, Paratek has also
 established an effort to exploit its novel tetracycline derivatives and
 their unique mechanism of action in selected anti-inflammatory and
 neurodegenerative conditions, including a collaboration to develop novel
 oral non-antibacterial tetracycline derivatives for multiple sclerosis with
 Serono SA. Paratek has an active chemical synthesis effort to produce novel
 and diverse small molecules, with the goal of developing non-antibacterial
 compounds with improved activity in serious inflammatory and
 neurodegenerative diseases based upon a growing body of clinical and basic
 research supporting this approach.
     Paratek is privately held and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts,
 USA. For more information, visit Paratek's website at
 http://www.paratekpharm.com/.
 
 

SOURCE Paratek Pharmaceuticals, Inc.