AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Savara Inc. (Nasdaq: SVRA), an orphan lung disease company, today announced the appointment of Dr. An van Es-Johansson, M.D. to its Board of Directors, effective immediately. Dr. van Es-Johansson has extensive experience in the development of FDA- and EMA-approved orphan products and has held global leadership roles across multiple disciplines of the life sciences industry, including clinical development, regulatory, and medical affairs.
Dr. van Es-Johansson, an expert in orphan drug development, is currently the Chief Medical Officer for AlzeCure Pharma, a Swedish pharmaceutical company with a primary focus on Alzheimer’s disease, where she is responsible for regulatory, clinical development, clinical operations, and pharmacovigilance. For more than a decade prior to that, Dr. van Es-Johansson was at Sobi, an international rare disease company headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. During her tenure at Sobi, she held a range of executive roles of increasing responsibility. Dr. van Es-Johansson has leadership experience within large pharmaceutical and smaller biotechnology companies, including Roche, Eli Lilly, Active Biotech, and BioStratum.
“I am pleased to be joining a team so passionate about improving the lives of patients with a rare lung disease,” said Dr. van Es-Johansson. “I am excited to be working with the board of directors and executive team as they navigate the regulatory pathway for the Molgradex aPAP program. Through this opportunity, I look forward to sharing my insights and experience in bringing orphan drugs to market for patients as well as contributing to the future success of the company.”
“Dr. van Es-Johansson brings deep expertise in orphan drug development and we are fortunate to have her join Savara’s Board of Directors,” said Rob Neville, Chief Executive Officer, Savara. “We believe her global regulatory experience, and extensive knowledge of the drug development process that spans clinical operations through to commercialization, will be a true asset to our company and the patients we serve. Her appointment will also help ensure that our Board continues to benefit from a breadth of diverse perspectives, experience, and knowledge.”
Dr. van Es-Johansson received a M.D. from Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
About Savara
Savara is an orphan lung disease company. Savara’s pipeline comprises Molgradex, an inhaled granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) in Phase 3 development for autoimmune pulmonary alveolar proteinosis (aPAP), in Phase 2a development for nontuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) lung infection in both non-cystic fibrosis (CF) and CF-affected individuals with chronic NTM lung infection; and AeroVanc, a Phase 3-stage inhaled vancomycin for treatment of persistent methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) lung infection in CF. Savara’s strategy involves expanding its pipeline of potentially best-in-class products through indication expansion, strategic development partnerships and product acquisitions, with the goal of becoming a leading company in its field. Savara’s management team has significant experience in orphan drug development and pulmonary medicine, identifying unmet needs, developing and acquiring new product candidates, and effectively advancing them to approvals and commercialization. More information can be found at www.savarapharma.com. (Twitter: @SavaraPharma, LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/savara-pharmaceuticals/).
Forward-Looking Statements
Savara cautions you that statements in this press release that are not a description of historical fact are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of words referencing future events or circumstances such as “expect,” “intend,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “believe,” and “will,” among others. Such statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding Dr. van Es-Johansson’s excitement to be working with the board of directors and executive team as they navigate the regulatory pathway for the Molgradex aPAP program, sharing insights and experience in bringing orphan drugs to market for patients as well as contributing to the future success of the company, being fortunate to have her join Savara’s Board of Directors, Dr. van Es-Johansson’s expected contributions to Savara and its board of directors, that her experience and expertise will be a true asset to our company and the patients we serve, and that her appointment will help ensure that our board continues to benefit from a breadth of diverse perspectives, experience, and knowledge. Savara may not actually achieve any of the matters referred to in such forward-looking statements, and you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based upon Savara's current expectations and involve assumptions that may never materialize or may prove to be incorrect. Actual results and the timing of events could differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements as a result of various risks and uncertainties, which include, without limitation, the outcome of our ongoing discussions with the FDA regarding our IMPALA data and path forward, risks and uncertainties associated with the outcome of our ongoing and planned clinical trials for our product candidates, the ability to project future cash utilization and reserves needed for contingent future liabilities and business operations, the availability of sufficient resources for Savara’s operations and to conduct or continue planned clinical development programs, the ability to obtain the necessary patient enrollment for our product candidates in a timely manner, the ability to successfully identify product acquisition candidates, the ability to successfully develop our product candidates, the risks associated with the process of developing, obtaining regulatory approval for and commercializing drug candidates such as Molgradex and AeroVanc that are safe and effective for use as human therapeutics, and the timing and ability of Savara to raise additional equity capital as needed to fund continued operations. All forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by these cautionary statements. For a detailed description of our risks and uncertainties, you are encouraged to review our documents filed with the SEC including our recent filings on Form 8-K, Form 10-K and Form 10-Q. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date on which they were made. Savara undertakes no obligation to update such statements to reflect events that occur or circumstances that exist after the date on which they were made, except as may be required by law.