LANGHORNE, Pa.—Savara Inc. (Nasdaq: SVRA), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on rare respiratory diseases, announced that Yasmine Wasfi, M.D., Ph.D., FCCP, has been promoted to Chief Medical Officer, effective immediately. She succeeds Ray Pratt, M.D., FACP, who will transition from his role as CMO to serve as Senior Medical Advisor. Dr. Wasfi will report directly to Savara’s Chair and Chief Executive Officer and join the company’s executive leadership team. She previously served as Executive Vice President, Head of Clinical Development and Clinical Operations.
“We are pleased to promote Dr. Wasfi to Chief Medical Officer,” said Matt Pauls, J.D., M.B.A., Chair and Chief Executive Officer of Savara. “Dr. Wasfi is a pulmonologist with more than 20 years of experience across biotech and large pharmaceutical organizations. Her strategic leadership and deep commitment to patients with autoimmune pulmonary alveolar proteinosis (autoimmune PAP) have been critical in advancing the MOLBREEVI* program. We look forward to her continued leadership as we move closer to bringing this important therapy to patients.”
Pauls added, “We are deeply grateful to Dr. Pratt for his significant contributions over the course of his tenure as CMO. His decades of drug development experience and regulatory expertise have played a key role in the progress of the MOLBREEVI program. We are fortunate that he will continue to provide guidance as Senior Medical Advisor.”
“I want to congratulate Dr. Wasfi on her well-deserved promotion,” said Ray Pratt, M.D., FACP. “Her experience and insight have already strengthened our clinical development efforts. It has been an honor to lead the MOLBREEVI program through multiple late-stage milestones as we work toward delivering the first and only approved therapy for autoimmune PAP in the U.S. and Europe. I look forward to supporting the company in my new advisory role.”
Dr. Wasfi is an experienced physician-scientist specializing in clinical research and drug development of both large and small molecule therapeutics. Her background includes leadership roles in respiratory and late-phase immunology development at Amicus Therapeutics, Johnson & Johnson, and Merck. She earned her B.A. in Biology from the University of Delaware, M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and Ph.D. in Clinical Science from the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, where she also completed her fellowship in Pulmonary and Critical Care.
