BOSTON, July 1, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Paratek Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:PRTK), a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of innovative therapies based upon tetracycline chemistry, today announced that William Haskel joined the company as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary. He will be based out of the company's Boston office.
"Bill is a seasoned leader with a significant track record of accomplishment in the life sciences industry. The skills he brings are well matched with Paratek's strategic priorities and plans for growth," said Michael Bigham, Chief Executive Officer, Paratek. "The insights and guidance he brings will be an important contribution to our business as we work to bring omadacycline to patients and build an enduring company."
"I am excited to be joining the talented leadership team at Paratek as we work to bring omadacycline to patients," said Mr. Haskel. "This is an important time for our company and I look forward to working with this team to execute on our strategy."
As General Counsel, Mr. Haskel is the firm's chief legal officer, providing legal advice to Paratek's Board of Directors and senior management.
Mr. Haskel brings more than 20 years of experience in leading legal corporate development for life sciences companies. Most recently, Mr. Haskel served as Senior Vice President, General Counsel, Corporate Secretary and Chief Compliance Officer at Cambrex Corporation, where he was responsible for the global law function as well as overseeing Global Regulatory and Quality Affairs and Environment, Health and Safety. He was principal advisor for Board and Governance, M&A, Securities and Corporate matters, and he created the formal global compliance program. Prior to his tenure at Cambrex, Mr. Haskel spent 18 years at Wyeth, where he held positions of increasing responsibility. At Wyeth, Mr. Haskel held such positions as Vice President and Associate General Counsel – Corporate, where he advised executive management and led a group of 33 professionals, and Vice President, Global Administration, where he led a newly formed global department charged with designing and executing global strategies to capture cost savings and business efficiencies within the new health care environment. Mr. Haskel received his J.D. from George Washington University Law School; his B.A. from Franklin and Marshall College and Bar Admissions in New York State; Commonwealth of Massachusetts; New Jersey (limited in-house license) and the United States District Court (District of Massachusetts).
About Paratek
Paratek Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of innovative therapies based upon its expertise in novel tetracycline chemistry. Paratek's lead product candidate, omadacycline, is an aminomethylcycline, derived from tetracyclines.
Omadacycline is a new once-daily oral and intravenous, broad-spectrum antibiotic being developed for use as empiric monotherapy for patients suffering from serious community-acquired bacterial infections, such as acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections (ABSSSI), community acquired bacterial pneumonia (CABP), urinary tract infections (UTI), and other community-acquired bacterial infections, particularly when antibiotic resistance is of concern to prescribing physicians.
Paratek's second product candidate, sarecycline, also known as WC 3035, is a new once-daily oral tetracycline-derived compound, designed to provide both a narrow-spectrum of antibiotic activity and favorable tolerability profile, for the treatment of acne and rosacea in the community setting. Paratek has licensed rights to sarecycline for the treatment of acne in the United States to a subsidiary of Allergan, formerly Warner Chilcott, while retaining rights in the rest of the world. Allergan is responsible for the clinical development of sarecycline for the treatment of acne in the United States. A Phase 3 program was initiated by Allergan in December 2014 for sarecycline for the treatment of moderate to severe inflammatory acne.
For more information, visit www.paratekpharm.com.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements including statements related to our plans for growth, bringing omadacycline to patient and building an enduring company. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, included in this press release are forward-looking statements, and are identified by words such as "advancing," "believe," "expect," "well positioned," "look forward," "anticipated," "continued," and other words and terms of similar meaning. These forward-looking statements are based upon our current expectations and involve substantial risks and uncertainties. We may not actually achieve the plans, carry out the intentions or meet the expectations or projections disclosed in our forward-looking statements and you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Our actual results and the timing of events could differ materially from those included in such forward-looking statements as a result of these risks and uncertainties, which include, without limitation, risks related to (i) our need for substantial additional funding to complete the development and commercialization of our product candidates, (ii) our ability to raise the capital to do so, (iii) our ability to develop our drug candidates for potential commercialization, (iv) the advancement of omadacycline Phase 3 trials for ASSBI, (v) the timing of the commencement of omadacycline Phase 3 trials (vi) the potential for omadacycline to be successfully developed for use as a first-line empiric monotherapy for patients suffering from serious community-acquired bacterial infections, (vii) the potential of omadacycline to become the primary antibiotic choice of physicians for the treatment of serious community-acquired bacterial infections, (viii) the potential use and effectiveness of sarecycline for the treatment of acne and rosacea in the community setting, and (ix) the timing of the commencement of a Phase 3 program in moderate-severe acne for sarecycline, risks that data to date and trends may not be predictive of future results, risks related to the conduct of our clinical trials, and risks that our clinical trials and product candidates do not receive regulatory approval. These and other risk factors are discussed under "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2015, and our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We expressly disclaim any obligation or undertaking to update or revise any forward-looking statements contained herein.
CONTACT: Media Relations:
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Investor Relations:
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LifeSci Advisors, LLC.
212-915-2568
