Paratus: Ground Up at Node 1

2023 was a year of firsts for Paratus Sciences. The biotech, which leverages the unique biology of bats for drug discovery, made its debut in January with a $100M Series A co-led by Polaris Partners, Arch Ventures, ClavystBio and Leaps by Bayer. Following this, the company -- co-headquartered in the US and Singapore – established its Singapore presence at Node 1's co-working lab space.

Paratus was looking for more than a standard rental. They needed a lab-and-office built to fit their exact workflow, with room to scale for future growth. Node 1’s bare shell space provided the perfect opportunity to realize this vision.

This involved a thorough understanding of Paratus’ work flow and identifying potential pain points. Together, our teams discussed blueprints and how to strategically place equipment, gas lines and emergency electrical supplies to ensure the entire 280-square-foot space was fully optimized. This customized lab now includes a general lab, bacteria room, freezer room, 2 tissue culture rooms, and an adjacent private office for up to 13 people. The ClavystBio infra team was hands-on throughout the 3 to 4-month build-up, managing the project, and ensuring no delays in the schedule.

Dr Lewis Hong, VP of Discovery Research and Singapore Site Head explains “At Node 1, we had the unique opportunity to co-design our space given its flexible space offering - ensuring it could handle our current and future needs.”

A Community For Growth

Beyond the physical space, Node 1 provides something less tangible but equally valuable: community. “It’s not just about shared amenities such as a community lounge, meeting rooms and even IT infrastructure, but plugging into a vibrant ecosystem from day one — something we didn’t have to build from scratch as a start-up” says Dr Hong.

For Paratus’ lean team, this means access to community programmes they wouldn’t be able to organize on their own, like intimate fireside chats with industry leaders, festive celebrations or casual mixer with other startups, and workshops.