Paratek Pharmaceuticals earns $12M milestone payment after FDA approves acne drug Seysara

Paratek Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:PRTK) is on the receiving end of good news as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved its acne drug Seysara.

Paratek no longer controls the US rights to Seysara, having ceded them to the Spanish pharmaceutical company Almirall SA. But the company is set to receive a $12 million milestone payment thanks to the FDA’s approval of the acne drug and is also entitled to tiered royalties on net sales of the drug.

Paratek also still holds Seysara’s development and commercialization rights outside the US.

Read: Shares of Foamix Pharmaceuticals Ltd soar after its acne drug meets main goals in late-stage trial

Seysara is a tetracycline-derived antibiotic, which is taken by mouth once per day. It treats inflammatory lesions stemming from moderate to severe acne in patients older than nine.

Acne affects approximately 40 million to 50 million people in the US alone, of whom approximately 10 million have moderate-to-severe acne that significantly impacts self-esteem and quality of life. For most people, acne diminishes over time and tends to disappear or decrease, by age 25.

Based in Boston, Paratek is a biopharmaceutical company that develops tetracycline-based therapies. Its lead product, omadacylcine is a once-daily antibiotic that treats infections such as bacterial pneumonia and urinary tract infections.

Paratek handed over the US development and commercialization rights for Seysara to the Dublin-based Allergan PLC, which, in turn, transferred the drug’s US rights to Almirall SA.

Shares slipped 5.2% to $9.22 in Tuesday’s afternoon trading session.

Story by ProactiveInvestors