Paratek Snapshot
Paratek Pharmaceuticals wants to teach an old drug new tricks. The company is working to create new forms of tetracycline that will be effective against newly resistant strains of bacteria and potentially treat diseases not associated with bacteria, including neurodegenerative and inflammatory conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis. It has synthesized more than 2,500 new tetracycline compounds and is sifting through each to find their possible applications. The company's Multiple Antibiotic Resistance Program (MAR) is looking at ways to genetically turn off bacteria's ability to survive, thereby preventing infection in the first place.