Savara Pharmaceuticals Appoints Two New Members to Its Board of Directors

AUSTIN, Texas, Dec. 5, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Savara Pharmaceuticals announced today that the company has appointed Dr. Joseph S. McCracken, DVM and Yuri Pikover to its Board of Directors.

Dr. McCracken has more than 25 years of experience in technical, business development and market development roles with biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. Most recently he was Global Head of Business Development & Licensing at Roche Pharmaceuticals where he was responsible for Roche's global in-licensing and out-licensing activities. Prior to joining Roche, Dr. McCracken held the position of Vice President of Business Development at Genentech for more than a decade.

Mr. Pikover is a Managing Director of 37 Technology Ventures, a boutique venture fund focusing on growing startups, and currently serves on the boards of numerous companies. From 1993 to 2008, he founded and held executive roles at Xylan, Access360, 5square and Folsom Lake Nissan, and served on the boards of several dozen companies. Prior to 1993, Yuri held technical and management positions with Micom Systems and Fibermux Corporation.

"We are delighted to welcome Joseph and Yuri to our Board of Directors at an exciting time for the company," said Rob Neville, CEO, Savara Pharmaceuticals. "The two bring a breadth of business development and public company experience to our team that will help achieve our long term growth objectives."

Last April, Savara Pharmaceuticals announced the initiation of a Phase 2 clinical trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of AeroVanc for the treatment of persistent methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) lung infection in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. AeroVanc is the first inhaled antibiotic being developed to address the growing population of MRSA lung-infected CF patients.

About AeroVanc
Vancomycin is an FDA-approved intravenously administered antibiotic with proven efficacy in the treatment of MRSA infections. AeroVanc is an investigational, proprietary inhaled dry powder form of vancomycin in a capsule-based device designed for convenient self-administration. AeroVanc is currently being developed as a treatment for persistent MRSA lung infection in CF patients. By delivering vancomycin directly to the lungs, higher vancomycin concentrations are achieved at the site of infection, which is expected to lead to improved clinical efficacy. In addition, direct delivery of the drug into the lungs reduces exposure to the drug elsewhere in the body, and is thereby expected to reduce the risk of systemic drug-related side effects.

About Savara Pharmaceuticals
Savara Pharmaceuticals is a specialty pharmaceutical company developing AeroVanc (vancomycin hydrochloride inhalation powder), the first dry powder inhaled antibiotic for the treatment of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection in patients with cystic fibrosis. For more information, please see Savara's website at www.savarapharma.com, or www.aerovanc.com, or find us on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

SOURCE Savara Pharmaceuticals