July 25, 2005

Paramount Acquisition Corp.
787 7th Avenue, 48th Floor
New York, New York 10019

EarlyBirdCapital, Inc.
275 Madison Avenue
Suite 1203
New York, New York 10016

          Re: Initial Public Offering

Gentlemen:

          The undersigned stockholder, officer and director of Paramount
Acquisition Corp. ("Company"), in consideration of EarlyBirdCapital, Inc.
("EBC") entering into a letter of intent ("Letter of Intent") to underwrite an
initial public offering of the securities of the Company ("IPO") and embarking
on the IPO process, hereby agrees as follows (certain capitalized terms used
herein are defined in paragraph 12 hereof):

          1. If the Company solicits approval of its stockholders of a Business
Combination, the undersigned will vote all Insider Shares owned by him in
accordance with the majority of the votes cast by the holders of the IPO Shares.

          2. In the event that the Company fails to consummate a Business
Combination within 18 months from the effective date ("Effective Date") of the
registration statement relating to the IPO (or 24 months under the circumstances
described in the prospectus relating to the IPO), the undersigned will (i) cause
the Trust Fund (as defined in the Letter of Intent) to be liquidated and
distributed to the holders of IPO Shares and (ii) take all reasonable actions
within his power to cause the Company to liquidate as soon as reasonably
practicable. The undersigned hereby waives any and all right, title, interest or
claim of any kind in or to any distribution of the Trust Fund and any remaining
net assets of the Company as a result of such liquidation with respect to his
Insider Shares ("Claim") and hereby waives any Claim the undersigned may have in
the



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future as a result of, or arising out of, any contracts or agreements with the
Company and will not seek recourse against the Trust Fund for any reason
whatsoever.

          3. In order to minimize potential conflicts of interest which may
arise from multiple affiliations, the undersigned agrees to present to the
Company for its consideration, prior to presentation to any other person or
entity, any suitable opportunity to acquire an operating business, until the
earlier of the consummation by the Company of a Business Combination, the
liquidation of the Company or until such time as the undersigned ceases to be an
officer or director of the Company, subject to any pre-existing fiduciary and
contractual obligations the undersigned might have.

          4. The undersigned acknowledges and agrees that the Company will not
consummate any Business Combination which involves a company which is affiliated
with any of the Insiders unless the Company obtains an opinion from an
independent investment banking firm reasonably acceptable to EBC that the
business combination is fair to the Company's stockholders from a financial
perspective.

          5. Neither the undersigned, any member of the family of the
undersigned, nor any affiliate ("Affiliate") of the undersigned will be entitled
to receive and will not accept any compensation for services rendered to the
Company prior to the consummation of the Business Combination; provided that
commencing on the Effective Date, Paramount BioCapital Asset Management, Inc.
("Related Party"), shall be allowed to charge the Company $7,500 per month,
representing an allocable share of Related Party's overhead, to compensate it
for the Company's use of Related Party's offices, utilities and personnel.
Related Party and the undersigned shall also be entitled to reimbursement from
the Company for their out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with seeking
and consummating a Business Combination.

          6. Neither the undersigned, any member of the family of the
undersigned, nor any Affiliate of the undersigned will be entitled to receive or
accept a finder's fee or any other compensation in the event the undersigned,
any member of the family of the undersigned or any Affiliate of the undersigned
originates a Business Combination.

          7. The undersigned will escrow his Insider Shares for the three year
period commencing on the Effective Date subject to the terms of a Stock Escrow
Agreement which the Company will enter into with the undersigned and an escrow
agent acceptable to the Company.

          8. The undersigned agrees to be the President and a Director of the



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Company until the earlier of the consummation by the Company of a Business
Combination or the liquidation of the Company. The undersigned's biographical
information furnished to the Company and EBC and attached hereto as Exhibit A is
true and accurate in all respects, does not omit any material information with
respect to the undersigned's background and contains all of the information
required to be disclosed pursuant to Item 401 of Regulation S-K, promulgated
under the Securities Act of 1933. The undersigned's Questionnaire furnished to
the Company and EBC and annexed as Exhibit B hereto is true and accurate in all
respects. The undersigned represents and warrants that:

     (a) he is not subject to, or a respondent in, any legal action for, any
injunction, cease-and-desist order or order or stipulation to desist or refrain
from any act or practice relating to the offering of securities in any
jurisdiction;

     (b) he has never been convicted of or pleaded guilty to any crime (i)
involving any fraud or (ii) relating to any financial transaction or handling of
funds of another person, or (iii) pertaining to any dealings in any securities
and he is not currently a defendant in any such criminal proceeding; and

     (c) he has never been suspended or expelled from membership in any
securities or commodities exchange or association or had a securities or
commodities license or registration denied, suspended or revoked.

          9. The undersigned has full right and power, without violating any
agreement by which he is bound, to enter into this letter agreement and to serve
as President and Director of the Company.

          10. The undersigned authorizes any employer, financial institution, or
consumer credit reporting agency to release to EBC and its legal representatives
or agents (including any investigative search firm retained by EBC) any
information they may have about the undersigned's background and finances
("Information"). Neither EBC nor its agents shall be violating the undersigned's
right of privacy in any manner in requesting and obtaining the Information and
the undersigned hereby releases them from liability for any damage whatsoever in
that connection.

          11. This letter agreement shall be governed by and construed and
enforced in accordance with the laws of the State of New York, without giving
effect to conflicts of law principles that would result in the application of
the substantive laws of another jurisdiction. The undersigned hereby (i) agrees
that any action, proceeding or claim against him arising out of or relating in
any way to this letter agreement (a "Proceeding")



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shall be brought and enforced in the courts of the State of New York of the
United States of America for the Southern District of New York, and irrevocably
submits to such jurisdiction, which jurisdiction shall be exclusive, (ii) waives
any objection to such exclusive jurisdiction and that such courts represent an
inconvenient forum and (iii) irrevocably agrees to appoint Graubard Miller as
agent for the service of process in the State of New York to receive, for the
undersigned and on his behalf, service of process in any Proceeding. If for any
reason such agent is unable to act as such, the undersigned will promptly notify
the Company and EBC and appoint a substitute agent acceptable to each of the
Company and EBC within 30 days and nothing in this letter will affect the right
of either party to serve process in any other manner permitted by law.

          12. As used herein, (i) a "Business Combination" shall mean an
acquisition by merger, capital stock exchange, asset or stock acquisition,
reorganization or otherwise, of an operating business; (ii) "Insiders" shall
mean all officers, directors and stockholders of the Company immediately prior
to the IPO; (iii) "Insider Shares" shall mean all of the shares of Common Stock
of the Company owned by an Insider prior to the IPO; and (iv) "IPO Shares" shall
mean the shares of Common Stock issued in the Company's IPO.

                                        I. Keith Maher
                                        ----------------------------------------
                                        Print Name of Insider


                                        /s/ I. Keith Maher
                                        ----------------------------------------
                                        Signature



EXHIBIT A

     I. KEITH MAHER, M.D. has served as our president and a member of our board
of directors since our inception. Dr. Maher has served as managing director of
Paramount BioCapital Asset Management, Inc. since March 2005. From February 2002
to March 2005, Dr. Maher worked at Weiss, Peck & Greer, where he served as
managing director and as portfolio manager and analyst at the WPG Farber Fund,
an equity hedge fund, where he also led that fund's direct investment practice.
From July 2000 to February 2002, Dr. Maher was with Lehman Brothers, where he
was involved in equity research, including research on medical technology
companies. Dr. Maher received a B.A. from Boston University, a M.D. from Union
University and a M.B.A. from the Kellogg School of Business at Northwestern
University.