Atossa Therapeutics Advances Product Development Programs with Multiple Key Hires in Clinical, Regulatory, and Chemistry Manufacturing and Controls

SEATTLE, July 08, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Atossa Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATOS), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company seeking to discover and develop innovative medicines in areas of significant unmet medical need with a current focus on breast cancer and COVID-19, announced it has hired key personnel in clinical, regulatory and chemistry manufacturing and controls (CMC). The new hires include Heather Fraser, Ph.D., as vice president of clinical, regulatory and CMC; Natalie Farris, MS, as senior director of CMC; and Devon Payne as director of clinical operations.

“Hiring of these talented and accomplished individuals will help accelerate the advancement of our development pipeline, which includes programs in breast cancer and COVID-19,” commented Steven Quay, M.D., Ph.D., president and CEO of Atossa. “We welcome Heather, Natalie and Devon to Atossa and look forward to their important contributions as we execute on our value-creation strategy.”

B. Heather Fraser, Ph.D., joins Atossa from Cerecor Inc., where she served as vice president of clinical operations and program management for eight years. She has more than 20 years of biotech experience, including positions of increasing responsibility at Cerecor Inc., Anthera Pharmaceuticals, and CV Therapeutics. She received her B.S. in Zoology from the University of British Columbia, an M.S. in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Montana, and her Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the University of Alberta. She also completed a post-doctorate fellowship at Johns Hopkins University.

Natalie Farris, MS, has more than 18 years of experience in the vaccines and biopharmaceutical industries, most recently at GlaxoSmithKline, in vaccines, where she served as senior manager of regulatory affairs and CMC, and at Cerecor Inc., in biopharmaceuticals, where she served as senior director of CMC. Prior to these, she held positions at various well-known companies, including Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc., Esai, Inc., Shire Pharmaceutical, Inc. and AVI Biopharma. She earned both her B.S. in Chemistry and M.S. in Geochemistry from the University of Delaware.

Devon Payne has worked in the biopharma industry for more than 17 years in a variety of areas, including clinical project management and research. Most recently, Ms. Payne served as associate director of clinical operations at Omeros Corporation. Prior, she served in clinical and research roles at Icon Clinical Research, Alere, Inc. (now part of Abbott), Proteogenix, Inc., and others. She received her B.A. in Psychology from California State University, Long Beach.

About Atossa Therapeutics

Atossa Therapeutics, Inc. is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company seeking to discover and develop innovative medicines in areas of significant unmet medical need with a current focus on breast cancer and COVID-19. For more information, please visit

Forward-Looking Statements

Forward-looking statements in this press release, which Atossa undertakes no obligation to update, are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from the anticipated or estimated future results, including the risks and uncertainties associated with any variation between interim and final clinical results, whether in vitro test results will also be achieved in in vivo studies, including human clinical studies, actions by and interactions with the FDA, the outcome or timing of regulatory approvals needed by Atossa including those needed to commence human clinical studies of AT-H201 and AT-301, lower than anticipated rate of patient enrollment, estimated market size of drugs under development, the safety and efficacy of Atossa’s products, performance of clinical research organizations and investigators, obstacles resulting from proprietary rights held by others such as patent rights, and other risks detailed from time to time in Atossa’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including without limitation its periodic reports on Form 10-K and 10-Q, each as amended and supplemented from time to time.

Company Contact:

Atossa Therapeutics, Inc.

Kyle Guse, CFO and General Counsel

Office: (866) 893-4927

Investor Relations Contact:

Core IR

Office: (516) 222-2560

Source: Atossa Therapeutics, Inc.