Savara Announces Appointment of Pharmaceutical Veteran to Board of Directors

AUSTIN, Texas, Nov. 8, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Savara Inc., an inhalation product development company, today announced that it has appointed Richard Hawkins to its Board of Directors.

In 1983 Mr. Hawkins founded Pharmaco and as Chairman, President and CEO he guided the growth of that organization to over 700 employees. It eventually became PPD Pharmaco, one of the largest clinical contract research organizations in the world. Since Pharmaco, he has served in various capacities in numerous startup companies, including Sensus Drug Development Corporation, which was sold to Pfizer; Covance Biotechnology Services, which was sold to Akzo Nobel Inc. in early 2001; and LoopOne, Inc., which was sold to Neopost in May 2001.

"We are honored to have someone with Mr. Hawkins' track record join the Board of Directors," said Rob Neville, CEO of Savara. "We now have the board and executive team in place to move our lead product into the clinic."

Mr. Hawkins currently serves on the Board of Directors for SciClone Pharmaceuticals Inc. and on the Board for Cytori Therapeutics Inc. Recently he co-founded and acted as CEO, President and Chairman of Austin-based LabNow. In 2006 he was named one the top 10 Life Sciences CEO's in Texas by the Texas Healthcare & Bioscience Institute.

"I have been following Savara for some time and am very impressed with their technologies and progress," said Mr. Hawkins. "It is clear that this team is passionate, focused and knows how to execute."

Mr. Hawkins is a member of the National Ernest and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Hall of Fame and received the Ernest and Young 1991 Service Industry Award - Austin Region.

About NanoCluster

Particle size is critical for pulmonary drug delivery, and the ability to obtain particle sizes in the range of 1-3 microns has the potential to improve the efficacy of existing and new drug therapies. Savara's NanoCluster technology utilizes nanotechnology to formulate high-performance inhalation powder without the need for novel excipients or carrier particles. Savara's NanoClusters are modeled after naturally occurring aerosols, which are highly effective in reaching the peripheral lung. These aerodynamics enable high drug concentrations in specific regions of the lung, independent of the inhalation flow rate. Savara expects that NanoCluster's unique features will enable products that are currently difficult or impossible to develop using conventional inhalation powders.

About Savara Inc.

Savara Inc. (http://www.savarapharma.com) is an inhalation drug development company developing next-generation respiratory therapeutics utilizing its proprietary NanoCluster dry-powder formulation technology. Savara's NanoCluster technology is currently available for evaluation and licensing.

Contact Information:


Partners:

Taneli Jouhikainen

(888) 302-4876

tj@savarapharma.com


Investors:

Rob Neville

(888) 302-4876

rob.neville@savarapharma.com



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SOURCE Savara Inc.

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