Shantel
Covira, a Chicago-area biotech company developing novel therapeutic agents to modulate the gut microbiome to prevent diseases, announces the appointment of Brian Yoor as Chairman of the Board of Directors. Mr. Yoor joined Covira’s Board in May 2022.
Over the next 18 months, Covira is expected to take the required steps to move towards commercializing its lead asset CS-0003 and intends to file an IND application to prevent post-operative infections. In addition, plans are in progress for completing a Phase 1 clinical trials and scaling the Company accordingly to match strategic growth.
“We are delighted to appoint Brian as our Chairman of the Board,” said Peter Farmakis, Chief Executive Officer, Covira. “As an industry veteran, Brian brings deep financial, strategic and organizational development experience to Covira which will prove to be invaluable as we continue to advance our pipeline. I look forward to working closely with him as we prepare to achieve key upcoming milestones, including launching our next round of financing through a $5.0 million seed plus round next quarter (Q2 23) and continue to pursue our initial focus to eliminate surgical site infections and post-surgical sepsis.”
“I am honored to join Covira’s Board as its first Chairman during such an exciting time for the company,” added Brian Yoor, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Covira. “Peter has built an incredible leadership team, including Board Members Dr. John Alverdy and Jaime Contreras, whose approach is changing the standard of care to prevent post-operative infections. I strongly believe in the company’s mission and science and am excited to help lead Covira into its next stage in its evolution.”
Mr. Yoor is an accomplished global financial executive with over three decades of leadership experience in strategy, finance, operations, acquisitions and integrations and organizational development for healthcare and start-up companies. He spent most of his career at Abbott Laboratories, where he began as a plant accounting supervisor, and held multiple leadership roles including Division Controller for multiple business units, Vice President of Investor Relations, and Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. During his tenure at Abbott, Mr. Yoor successfully built and led performance culture and transformative change in the areas of capital allocation, enterprise-wide cash flow, and investor relations. Prior to his appointment as Covira’s Chairman, he was the founding Chairman and Operating Partner at Portal Innovations, a unique venture capital company for early life science start-ups. Mr. Yoor earned his B.B.A. in accounting from the University of Toledo.
About Covira
A spinout from The University of Chicago (Sept 2018), Covira is a biotech company developing drugs that work by modulating the biological activity of the gut microbiome to prevent diseases. This microbiome-focused company is based on the work of Dr. John Alverdy, MD, a world authority on the molecular basis of post-surgical infections. Covira’s platform technology generated a lead asset (CS-0003) that modulates bacterial virulence and restores microbial communities to prevent post-surgical infection. Covira’s approach is transformative to the field and the world is taking notice…in October of 2022, after a 7-month competitive process with over 4,000 companies, Covira was named 1 of 16 Most Fundable US Companies, Pepperdine Graziadio Business School Announces the 2022 List of Most Fundable Companies.
Learn more about Covira Surgical at covirasurgical.com.
