UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

SCHEDULE 14A

(Rule14a-101)

SCHEDULE 14A INFORMATION

Proxy Statement Pursuant to Section 14(A) of the

Securities Exchange Act of 1934

(Amendment No.    )

Filed by the Registrant  ☒                             Filed by a Party other than the Registrant  ☐

Check the appropriate box:

SAVARA INC.

(Name of Registrant as Specified In Its Charter)

(Name of Person(s) Filing Proxy Statement, if other than the Registrant)

Payment of Filing Fee (Check the appropriate box):

April 15, 202027, 2021

Dear Fellow Stockholder,

IOn behalf of the Board of Directors, it is my pleasure to invite you to attend the Savara Inc. 20202021 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, to be held on May 27, 2020June 10, 2021 at 3:00 PM00PM Central Time at the offices of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, P.C., located at 900 South Capital of Texas Highway, Las Cimas IV, Fifth Floor, Austin, Texas 78746. As a precautionary measure related to coronavirus orCOVID-19, it is possible we may hold the annual meeting solely by means of remote communication via live audio webcast on the above dateat http://www.virtualshareholdermeeting.com/SVRA2021. The attached Notice of Annual Meeting and time. If we determine to do so, we will announce the decision in advance, and details on how to participate in the annual meeting will be available at www.savarapharma.com. We recommend that you visit the website to confirm the status of the annual meeting before planning to attend in person.

While 2019 brought some challenges, we ended the year in a strong financial position and with positive momentum. Notably, we added two new directors to our Board and strengthened our executive team with a Chief Medical Officer. This new talent ensures a steady flow of creativity, fresh perspectives, and diverse opinions as we execute our strategy and plan for the future. We continue to gain momentum in 2020, having taken additional steps to grow our business responsibly and protect long-term shareholder value. We expanded our pipeline, which now includes three pivotal Phase 3 development programs – and one of these, the newly-acquired Apulmiq, is a potential blockbuster that could transform the company. Moreover, we are efficiently advancing our development programs and driving organizational maturity across the company. The efforts we’ve taken today, combined with Savara’s culture of tenacity and continuous improvement, position us well for future success, will advance scientific innovation in orphan lung disease and, potentially, provide medicines for chronic and debilitating diseases with significant unmet need.

As outlined in the notice ofProxy Statement contain important information about the meeting and proxy statement, the following four items are on the agendamatters for the annual meeting:

Our Boardyour consideration. Your vote is important, and regardless of Directors unanimously recommends a vote “FOR” the election of each of the nominees set forth in the proxy.

Our Board of Directors unanimously recommends a vote “FOR” this proposal.

Our Board of Directors unanimously recommends a vote “FOR” this proposal.

SAVARA INC.

6836 Bee Cave Road

Building III, Suite 200

Austin, TX 78746

NOTICE OF ANNUAL MEETING OF STOCKHOLDERS

To Be Held On May 27, 2020June 10, 2021

The 20202021 Annual Meeting of Stockholders of Savara Inc. will be held virtually via live webcast at http://www.virtualshareholdermeeting.com/SVRA2021 on May 27, 2020June 10, 2021 at 3:00 p.m. local time at the offices of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, P.C., located at 900 South Capital of Texas Highway, Las Cimas IV, Fifth Floor, Austin, Texas 78746.*Central Time. The meeting is being held for the following purposes, as more fully described in the proxy statement accompanying this notice:

1. To elect eightseven directors to hold office until the next annual meeting of stockholders and until their respective successors are elected and qualified or until their earlier resignation or removal;

2. To approve thean amendment to our Certificate of our Amended and Restated 2015 Omnibus Incentive PlanIncorporation to increase the number of authorized shares of our common stock authorized for issuance thereunder by 3,500,000;from 200,000,000 to 300,000,000;

3. To ratify the appointment of RSM US LLP as our independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2020;2021;

4. To approve, on an advisory basis, the compensation of our named executives; and

5. To transact such other business as may properly come before the meeting and any adjournment or postponement thereof.

Only stockholders of record at the close of business on March 30, 2020April 12, 2021 will be entitled to notice of, and to vote at, the meeting and any adjournment or postponement thereof. A list of stockholders entitled to vote at the meeting will be available for inspection by any stockholder for any purpose relating to the meeting during ordinary business hours at our corporate offices located at 6836 Bee Cave Road, Building III, Suite 200, Austin, Texas 78746 for ten days prior to the meeting, and will also be available for inspection at the meeting.

Your vote is important.Whether or not you plan to attend the meeting, and no matter how many shares you own, please vote as promptly as possible. This will help to ensure the presence of a quorum at the meeting and save us additional proxy solicitation costs.

All stockholders are cordially invited to attend the meeting.

Austin, Texas

April 15, 202027, 2021

* As a precautionary measure related to coronavirus orCOVID-19, it is possible we may hold the annual meeting solely by means of remote communication via live audio webcast on the above date and time. If we determine to do so, we will announce the decision in advance, and details on how to participate in the annual meeting will be availableat www.savarapharma.com. We recommend that you visit the website to confirm the status of the annual meeting before planning to attend in person.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

-i-

SAVARA INC.

6836 Bee Cave Road

Building III, Suite 200

Austin, TX 78746

(512)961-1891

PROXY STATEMENT

20202021 ANNUAL MEETING OF STOCKHOLDERS

To Be Held On May 27, 2020June 10, 2021

GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE MEETING

Savara Inc., a Delaware corporation (“Savara,” “we,” ‘us,” “our,” or “our company”), is making proxy materials, including this proxy statement, available to our stockholders via the internet in connection with the solicitation of proxies by our Board of Directors for use at our 20202021 Annual Meeting of Stockholders to be held virtually on May 27, 2020June 10, 2021 at 3:00 p.m. local timeCentral Time via live webcast at the offices of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, P.C., located at 900 South Capital of Texas Highway, Las Cimas IV, Fifth Floor, Austin, Texas 78746,http://www.virtualshareholdermeeting.com/SVRA2021, and at any adjournment or postponement thereof (the “Annual Meeting”).

This proxy statement, the attached notice of the Annual Meeting, a proxy card and our Annual Report on Form10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 20192020 are collectively referred to as the “proxy materials.” The proxy materials are first being made available to our stockholders on or about April 15, 2020.27, 2021.

Although our bylaws provide that we may hold a virtual-only annual meeting of stockholders, we currently have no intention to conduct our Annual Meeting in that format. As a precautionary measure related to coronavirus orCOVID-19, it is possible we may hold the annual meeting solely by means of remote communication via live audio webcast on the above date and time. If we determine to do so, we will announce the decision in advance, and details on how to participate in the annual meeting will be available at www.savarapharma.com. We recommend that you visit the website to confirm the status of the annual meeting before planning to attend in person.

Notice of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials

All stockholders have the ability to access the proxy materials on the website referred to in the attached notice of the Annual Meeting. Pursuant to rules adopted by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), we have elected to send a Notice of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials (the “Notice”) to our stockholders instead of mailing printed copies of the proxy materials, unless you have previously elected to receive printed materials. The Notice provides instructions on how to access the proxy materials via the internet and how to request a printed set of the proxy materials at no charge. In addition, stockholders can elect to receive future proxy materials electronically by email or in printed form by mail, and any such election will remain in effect until terminated by the stockholder. We encourage all stockholders to take advantage of the availability of the proxy materials on the internet to help reduce the cost and environmental impact of our annual meetings.

Purposes of the Annual Meeting

The Annual Meeting is being held for the following purposes:

1. To elect eightseven directors to hold office until the next annual meeting of stockholders and until their respective successors are elected and qualified or until their earlier resignation or removal;

2. To approve thean amendment to our Certificate of our Amended and Restated 2015 Omnibus Incentive PlanIncorporation to increase the number of authorized shares of our common stock authorized for issuance thereunder by 3,500,000, as set forth in the amended plan;from 200,000,000 to 300,000,000;

Record Date; Shares Outstanding and Entitled to Vote

Our Board of Directors has fixed March 30, 2020April 12, 2021 as the record date for the determination of holders of our common stock entitled to notice of, and to vote at, the Annual Meeting and any adjournment or postponement thereof. At the close of business on the record date, we had 50,842,629113,578,654 shares of common stock issued and outstanding. Each stockholder of record as of the record date is entitled to one vote at the Annual Meeting for each share of common stock held by such stockholder on the record date. Stockholders do not have cumulative voting rights. We had no other class of capital stock outstanding as of the record date. No other shares are entitled to notice of, or to vote at, the Annual Meeting.

How to Vote Your Shares

If you hold your shares in your own name as the stockholder of record: You may vote your shares by proxy over the internet or by telephone by following the instructions provided in the Notice, or, if you requested to receive printed proxy materials, you may vote by marking, dating and signing the enclosed proxy card and returning it in the postage-paid envelope provided or you may vote over the internet or by telephone pursuant to the instructions provided in the proxy card. Additionally, you may vote your shares in person at the Annual Meeting. Stockholders voting by internet or telephone should understand that, while we and the party providing the service through which you may vote by internet or by telephone do not charge any fees to our stockholders for voting by internet or telephone, there may still be costs, such as usage charges from internet access providers and telephone companies, for which you are responsible.

If your shares are held in the name of a broker or other nominee (that is, in “street name”): You will receive instructions from the holder of record that you must follow for your shares to be voted. The availability of telephonic or internet voting will depend on your broker’s (or other nominee’s) voting process. Please check with your broker or other nominee and follow the voting procedure your broker or other nominee provides to vote your shares. If you wish to vote in person at the Annual Meeting, you must request a legal proxy from your broker or other nominee that holds your shares and present that proxy and proof of identification at the Annual Meeting.

By casting your vote by proxy, you are authorizing the holders of the proxies solicited by this proxy statement to vote your shares in accordance with your instructions.

YOUR VOTE IS VERY IMPORTANT. We encourage you to submit your vote by proxy even if you plan to attend the Annual Meeting and vote in person.

How to Change Your Vote

If you hold your shares in your own name: You may revoke your proxy and change your vote at any time before your proxy is exercised by:

Any written notice of revocation or later dated proxy should be delivered before the close of business on May 26, 2020June 9, 2021 to:

Savara Inc.

6836 Bee Cave Road

Building III, Suite 200

Austin, TX 78746

Attention: Corporate Secretary

Alternatively, you may hand deliver a written revocation notice or a later dated proxy to our corporate secretary at the Annual Meeting before voting begins.

If your shares are held in street name: You must follow the instructions provided by the broker or other nominee if you wish to change your vote.

Proxies

If you provide specific voting instructions on your proxy card or when voting via the internet or by telephone, your shares will be voted at the Annual Meeting in accordance with your instructions. If you hold shares in your name and execute a proxy (either by submitting it via the internet or telephone or signing and returning a proxy card) without making individual selections, your shares will be voted in accordance with the recommendations of our Board of Directors, which are:

At this time, we are unaware of any matters, other than those set forth above, that may properly come before the Annual Meeting. If any other matters properly come before the Annual Meeting or any adjournment or postponement thereof, the holders of proxies solicited by this proxy statement, or their duly constituted substitutes acting at the Annual Meeting and any adjournment or postponement thereof, will be deemed authorized to vote or otherwise act on such matters in accordance with their judgment.

The holders of proxies solicited by this proxy statement, or their duly constituted substitutes acting at the Annual Meeting and any adjournment or postponement thereof, may propose and vote for one or more adjournments or postponements of the Annual Meeting, including adjournments or postponements to permit further solicitations of proxies. Proxies solicited may be voted only at the Annual Meeting and any adjournment or postponement thereof and will not be used for any other meeting of our stockholders.

BrokerNon-Votes

A “brokernon-vote” occurs when a nominee (typically a broker or bank) holding shares for a beneficial owner (typically referred to as shares being held in “street name”) submits a proxy for those shares but indicates

Quorum and Required Votes

A majority of the aggregate number of shares of our common stock issued and outstanding and entitled to vote at the Annual Meeting must be present in person or by proxy in order for there to be a quorum at the Annual Meeting and for any action to be taken at the Annual Meeting. If you submit a properly executed proxy via the internet or by telephone or mail, regardless of whether you abstain from voting on one or more matters, your shares will be counted as present at the Annual Meeting for the purpose of determining a quorum. Brokernon-votes will also be counted as present for the purpose of determining the presence of a quorum at the Annual Meeting.

Proposal 1:The affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of the shares of our common stock having voting power present in person or represented by proxy at the Annual Meeting is required for the election of each director nominee. This majority voting standard means that a director nominee will be elected if the number of shares voted “For” that director nominee exceeds the aggregate number of shares voted “Against” and that “Abstain” from voting with respect to that director nominee. As a result, an abstention will have the same effect as a negative vote. Brokernon-votes will not be counted toward the vote total and therefore will have no effect on the outcome of this proposal. In accordance with our corporate governance guidelines, each of our incumbent directors tendered his resignation in advance of being nominated for election at the Annual Meeting, with the effectiveness of such resignation subject to and contingent upon (a) the director’s failure to receive a sufficient number of votes forre-election at the Annual Meeting and (b) our Board of Directors’ acceptance of the resignation. Accordingly, the continued service on our Board of Directors by any director who is notre-elected because he does not receive the requisite affirmative votes at the Annual Meeting will be subject to our Board of Directors’ determination as to whether to accept or reject his resignation. Our Board of Directors will take into account and consider the voting results at the Annual Meeting but has sole discretion to determine whether or not to accept the resignation.

Proposal 2:The affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of our common stock present in person or represented by proxy and entitled to vote aton the Annual Meetingrecord date is required to approve the amendmentamend our Certificate of our Amended and Restated 2015 Omnibus Incentive PlanIncorporation to increase the number of authorized shares of our common stock authorized for issuance thereunder by 3,500,000, as set forth in the amended plan.from 200,000,000 to 300,000,000. An abstention will have the same effect as a negative vote. BrokerBrokers and other nominees generally will have discretionary authority to vote on this proposal because it is considered a routine matter under NYSE rules; therefore, we do not expect any broker non-votes will not be counted toward the vote total and therefore will have no effect on the outcome ofwith respect to this proposal.

Proposal 3:The affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of the shares of our common stock having voting power present in person or represented by proxy at the Annual Meeting is required to ratify the appointment of RSM US LLP as our independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020.2021. An abstention will have the same effect as a negative vote. Brokers and other nominees generally will have discretionary authority to vote on this proposal because it is considered a routine matter under NYSE rules; therefore, we do not expect any brokernon-votes with respect to this proposal.

Proposal 4:The affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of the shares of our common stock present in person or represented by proxy and entitled to vote at the Annual Meeting is required to approve, on an advisory

We may retain a proxy solicitation firm to assist us in the solicitation of proxies for the Annual Meeting. We would pay such firm, if any, customary fees, which we do not expect would exceed $20,000 and would reimburse the firm for its reasonableout-of-pocket expenses.

Arrangements also will be made with brokerage firms and other custodians, nominees and fiduciaries for the forwarding of solicitation material to the beneficial owners of stock held of record by such persons, and we will reimburse such custodians, nominees and fiduciaries for their reasonableout-of-pocket expenses in connection therewith.

If You Receive More Than One Proxy Card

If you receive more than one proxy card, it means you hold shares that are registered in more than one account. To ensure that all of your shares are voted, please mark your votes and date, sign and return each proxy card, or vote your proxy via internet or by telephone as instructed on each proxy card.

Householding Information

The SEC has adopted rules that permit brokers, banks and other nominees to satisfy the delivery requirements for proxy statements, annual reports and Notice of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials, as applicable, with respect to two or more stockholders sharing the same address by delivering a single copy of such document addressed to those stockholders. This process, which is commonly referred to as “householding,” potentially means extra convenience for stockholders and cost savings for companies.

A number of brokers and other nominees with account holders who are our stockholders may be “householding” the proxy materials. This means that only one copy of this proxy statement, our annual report and Notice of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials may have been sent to multiple stockholders in a household. If, at any time, you no longer wish to participate in householding and would prefer to receive a separate proxy statement, annual report and Notice of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials from the other stockholder(s) sharing your address, please (i) notify your broker or other nominee, (ii) direct your written request to Savara Inc., 6836 Bee Cave Road, Building III, Suite 200, Austin, TX 78746, Attention: Corporate Secretary or (iii) contact us by phone at (512)614-1848. We undertake to deliver promptly, upon any such oral or written request, a separate copy of the proxy materials to a stockholder at a shared address to which a single copy of these documents was delivered. Stockholders who currently receive multiple copies of the proxy materials at their address and would like to request householding of their communications should notify their broker or other nominee or contact our corporate secretary at the above address or phone number.

If you have any questions about voting your shares, please contact us at (512)614-1848.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

The following table provides summary information about each current membersmember of our Board of Directors, their ages as of April 1, 2020, their committee assignments, and the month and year in which they commenced service on our board, are as follows:Directors:

Our certificateBoard Composition

The following is a snapshot of incorporationthe Board’s current composition and bylaws, provide that each director elected or appointed to ourthe attributes of its directors:

Knowledge, Skills, and Expertise

The Board of Directors shall hold office untilis committed to ensuring the next annual meetingBoard reflects a diverse range of stockholders following such election or appointmentviewpoints, qualifications, skills, and untilexperience. Below is a list of a few of the director’s successor is electedareas of knowledge and qualified, or until the director’s earlier resignation or removal. Our bylaws provide that vacancies on our Board of Directors, including those resulting from an increaseexpertise reflected in the authorized number of directors, may be filled by a majoritymembers of the remaining directors, even if less than a quorum, or by a sole remaining director. Any director appointedBoard that contribute to the Board’s effectiveness. Detailed information about each individual director’s qualifications, skills and experience, as well as biographical information, can be found starting on page 7.

NOMINEES FOR ELECTION TO THE BOARD

Each of our current directors has been nominated for election to our Board of Directors. The paragraphs below provide information about each such director nominee. There are no family relationships among any of our directors and executive officers. Service on our boardBoard of directorsDirectors or as an executive officer prior to April 2017 described in this proxy statement refers to service with Savara Inc., the private company with which we completed a business combination April 2017 when we were operating as Mast Therapeutics, Inc. Following the business combination, we changed our name to Savara Inc.

Robert NevilleMatthew Pauls.Mr. NevillePauls has served as our ChairmanChief Executive Officer since December 2020, the Chair of our Board of Directors since September 2020, and served as our Interim Chief Executive Officer from September 2020 to December 2020. Mr. Pauls has served as a member of our Board of Directors since April 2017 and was a member of the Board of Directors of Mast Therapeutics, Inc. from October 2015 to April 2017. Previously, Mr. Pauls was the founder of Spartan Biopharma Insights, LLC, where he provided strategic advisement to institutional investors, C-suite executives, board directors, et al on investment thesis assessment, capitalization strategy, mergers and acquisitions, clinical execution, and commercialization. Mr. Pauls also serves on the Board of Directors of Zyla Life Sciences (previously Egalet Corporation) (OTCQX: ZCOR), a commercial-stage life sciences company with a portfolio of medicines for pain and inflammation. From August 2014 to November 2019, Mr. Pauls served as President and Chief Executive Officer since heco-founded theof Strongbridge Biopharma plc (NASDAQ: SBBP), a biopharmaceutical company in June 2008. Mr. Neville has extensive operational and development experience spanning more than 25 years across a number of sectors, including the life sciences industry. Prior toco-founding Private Savara, Mr. Neville founded andfocused on therapies that target rare diseases. He also served as CEO at Evity,a member of the Board of Directors of Strongbridge from September 2015 to November 2019. From April 2013 to August 2014, Mr. Pauls was Chief Commercial Officer of Insmed, Inc. (NASDAQ: INSM), a developerpublicly traded global biopharmaceutical company focused on rare diseases. Prior to Insmed, Mr. Pauls worked at Shire Pharmaceuticals, a global specialty biopharmaceutical company, from 2007 to April 2013, most recently as Senior Vice President, Head ofweb-based applications, which was subsequently sold Global Commercial Operations from May 2012 to BMC Software, Inc.,April 2013. Earlier in his career, from June 19981997 to May 2000. In 2018,2007, Mr. Neville was honored asPauls held senior positions at Bristol-Myers Squibb in Brand Management and Payor Marketing and at Johnson & Johnson in various U.S. and global commercial roles. Mr. Pauls holds B.S. and M.B.A. degrees from Central Michigan University and a winnerJ.D. from Michigan State University College of the Life Science category of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award for the Central Texas Region; based on his work at Private Savara and Evity, Mr. Neville was previously honored as atwo-time finalist for the award. Mr. Neville holds a post-graduate Engineering degree from the University of Natal South Africa.Law. We believe Mr. Neville’sPauls’ experience as our Chief Executive Officer, as well as his leadership experience and his previous serviceextensive commercialization, strategic planning and operations experience in executive positions at various companies qualifiesthe biopharmaceutical industry, particularly with therapies for rare diseases, qualify him to serve onas a member of the Board of Directors.

Nevan Elam. Mr. Elam has served as a member of our Board of Directors since February 2009. Since February 2013, Mr. Elam is currentlyhas served as a member of the Board of Directors as well as the President and Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Rezolute, Inc. (formerly AntriaBio, Inc.) (OTCQB:(NASDAQ: RZLT), a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing novel extended release therapies.therapies for metabolic diseases with serious unmet needs. Prior to his tenure at Rezolute, which began in October 2012, Mr. Elam served for three years as a senior executive in in the Chief Executive Officerpharmaceutical industry including as Senior Vice President and President of AeroSurgical Ltd., a medical device company operating out of Ireland. Prior to his service with AeroSurgical Ltd., Mr. Elam was Head of the Pulmonary Business Unit and Senior Vice President of Nektar Therapeutics.Therapeutics as well as President and Chief Executive Officer of a European medical device company. Earlier in his career, he was a founderco-founder and the Chief Financial Officer of E2open, Inc. as well as a Partner in the corporate practice of the law firm of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, P.C. In addition to serving on the board of directors of Rezolute, he also serves on the board of directors of privately held Softhale NV in Belgium. Mr. Elam received his Juris Doctorate from Harvard Law School and a BachelorsBachelor of Arts from Howard University. We believe Mr. Elam’s broad experience with pharmaceutical companies, including managing and advising them of their unique legal and regulatory obligations,in various capacities, qualifies him to serve on the Board of Directors.

Richard J. Hawkins. Mr. Hawkins has served as a member of our Board of Directors since October 2010. Mr. Hawkins is currently the President, Chief Executive Officer and ChairmanChair of the Board of Directors of Lumos Pharma, Inc. (NASDAQ: LUMO), a clinical stage biotechnology company focused on bringing novel therapies to patients with severe, rare, and genetic diseases, whose medical needs are unmet. In addition, Mr. Hawkins currently serves on the board of directors of several privately held life sciences companies, as well as Plus Therapeutics Inc. (formerly Cytori Therapeutics, Inc.) (NASDAQ: PSTV), and previously served on the boardBoard of directors

Directors of SciClone Pharmaceuticals, Inc. until its acquisition in October 2017. Prior to his tenure with Lumos Pharma, Inc., which began in September 2010, Mr. Hawkins, founded and advised numerous pharmaceutical companies including Sensus, where he served asco-founder and ChairmanChair of the Board of Directors until it was sold to Pfizer. From 1981 to 2000, Mr. Hawkins was founder, President and CEO of Pharmaco andwhere he guided the company’s growth to overmore than 2,000 employees. The company later merged with PPD of Wilmington, NC to form PPD Pharmaco, one of the largest clinical contract research organizations in the world. Mr. Hawkins received his Bachelor of Science in Biology from Ohio University. We believe Mr. Hawkins’sHawkins’ experience in the pharmaceutical and life sciences industries as well as his broad management experience qualify him to serve on the Board of Directors.

Joseph S. McCracken. Dr. McCracken has served as our lead independent directorLead Independent Director since December 2019 and a member of our Board of Directors since October 2013. Dr. McCracken currently advises biopharmaceutical companies on the design and implementation of corporate strategy and business development initiatives. Dr. McCracken also serves on the board of directors of Kindred Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: KIN) and, Lumos Pharma, Inc.

Corporate Development and Strategy at Biogen. Prior to Biogen, Dr. Sun served as a Vice President at BlackRock, as a member of the Fundamental Equity division of BlackRock’s Alpha Strategies Group and senior analystSenior Analyst for BlackRock’s Fundamental Large Cap Growth equity team, covering the health care sector. Prior to that, he was a senior healthcare analystSenior Healthcare Analyst at Citadel and Alyeska Investment Group in Chicago and worked as a pharmaceuticals equity research analyst on Wall Street, spending time at Lehman Brothers and Morgan Stanley. Dr. Sun began his career as a senior scientistSenior Scientist at Ironwood Pharmaceutical where he was involved in the discovery and development of the drug Linzess for irritable bowel syndrome. Dr. Sun received a PhD degree in Chemistry and Chemical Biology from Harvard University and was an NIH post-doctoral fellow in Biological Chemistry & Molecular Pharmacology at Harvard Medical School. He also received an MBA from New York University Stern School of Business, where he was a Mildred Elperin Scholar. He graduated summa cum laude from Berea College with a BA in chemistry. We believe that Dr. Sun’s significant experience in the area of life sciences investment qualifies him to serve on our Board of Directors. Dr. Sun was initially identified to serve as member of our Board of Directors by investors affiliated with Bain Capital Life Sciences Investors, LLC (“Bain Capital Life Sciences”) pursuant to the Bain Capital Life Sciences director designation right under that certain securities purchase agreement dated December 20, 2019 among us and certain accredited and institutional investors (the “Purchase Agreement”). For as long as Bain Capital Life Sciences holds a number of shares equal to the greater of (i) 50% of the number of shares of common stock (including shares of common stock issued or issuable upon exercise of warrants) purchased pursuant to and on the date of the Purchase Agreement, and (ii) 5% of our outstanding shares of common stock, the Companywe will nominate and use itsour commercially reasonable efforts to have an individual designated by Bain Capital Life Sciences elected to our Board of Directors.

An vanEs-Johansson. Dr. An vanEs-Johansson has served on our Board of Directors since December 2019. Since September 2018, she has served as the Chief Medical Officer for AlzeCure Pharma, a Swedish pharmaceutical company with a primary focus on Alzheimer’s disease. From May 2005 to September 2018, Dr. vanEs-Johansson served in a range of executive roles of increasing responsibility at Sobi, an international rare disease company headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, including as Vice President and Head of EMENAR Medical Affairs for Specialty Care and Partner Products from March 2013 to January 2018. Prior to her time at Sobi, Dr. vanEs-Johansson served in leadership positions withinat large pharmaceutical and smaller biotechnology companies, including Roche, Eli Lilly, Active Biotech, and BioStratum. From 2004 to 2016 she was a member of the Scientific AdboardAdvisory Board for Uppsala Bio and currently serves on the board of directors at BioInvent International AB (NASDAQ OMX Stockholm), Medivir AB (NASDAQ Stockholm), Plus Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: PSTV), Lumos Pharma, Inc. (NASDAQ: LUMO), and the privately held company Agendia BV. Dr. vanEs-Johansson received a M.D. from Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. We believe Dr. vanEs-Johansson’s medical knowledge and experience in the pharmaceutical industry qualifies her to serve on the Board of Directors.

Our certificate of incorporation and bylaws provide that each director elected or appointed to our Board of Directors shall hold office until the next annual meeting of stockholders following such election or appointment and until the director’s successor is elected and qualified, or until the director’s earlier resignation or removal. Our bylaws provide that vacancies on our Board of Directors, including those resulting from an increase in the authorized number of directors, may be filled by a majority of the remaining directors, even if less than a quorum, or by a sole remaining director. Any director appointed as a result of a vacancy holds office until the next annual meeting of stockholders and until a successor is elected and qualified. Pursuant to our bylaws, the authorized number of directors may be not less than three nor more than nine, with the exact number, which currently is seven, to be fixed by resolutions adopted from time to time by our Board of Directors. At the Annual Meeting, proxies cannot be voted for a greater number of individuals than the seven nominees named in this proxy statement.

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

Director Independence

Our Board of Directors has determined that each of our directors other than Robert NevilleMatthew Pauls is independent as defined under the NASDAQ Stock Market listing standards.

Board Committees

Our Board of Directors currently has an audit committee, compensation committeeAudit Committee, Compensation Committee and nominatingNominating and governance committee.Governance Committee.

Audit Committee. The Audit Committee of our Board of Directors was established by our Board of Directors in accordance with Section 3(a)(58)(A) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”) to oversee our corporate accounting and financial reporting processes and audits of our financial statements. For this purpose, the Audit Committee performs several functions, including, among other things:

Savara’s management has the primary responsibility for our consolidated financial statements and the reporting process including our system of internal accounting and financial controls.

The Audit Committee currently consists of Mr. Ramsay, who serves as its chairman, Mr. PaulsChair, Dr. van Es-Johansson and Mr. Hawkins. Mr. PaulsDr. van Es-Johansson was appointed to the Audit Committee in December 2019 followingSeptember 2020. Mr. Pauls served on the resignation of Yuri Pikover from the Board of Directors.Audit Committee until his appointment as Interim Chief Executive Officer in September 2020. Our Board of Directors reviews the NASDAQ listing standards definition of independence for Audit Committee members on an annual basis and has determined that all current members of the Audit Committee are independent as currently defined by listing standards and Rule10A-3 of the Exchange Act. Our Board of Directors has also determined that Mr. Ramsay qualifies as an “audit committee financial expert,” as defined in applicable SEC rules.

Compensation Committee. The Compensation Committee of our Board of Directors acts on behalf of our Board of Directors to review, adopt or recommend for adoption, and oversee Savara’s compensation strategy, policies, plans and programs. For this purpose, the Compensation Committee performs several functions, including, among other things:

The Compensation Committee currently consists of Mr. Elam, who serves as its chairman,Chair, Dr. McCracken and Dr. vanEs-Johansson. Mr. Pauls served on the Compensation Committee until December 2019, when Dr. vanEs-Johansson was appointed. All members of the Compensation Committee are independent as currently defined under the NASDAQ listing standards and Rule10C-1 of the Exchange Act.

Nominating and Governance Committee. The Nominating and Governance Committee of our Board of Directors is responsible for identifying, reviewing and evaluating candidates to serve as directors of Savara (consistent with criteria approved by our Board of Directors), reviewing and evaluating incumbent directors, selecting or recommending to our Board of Directors for selection candidates for election to the board, making recommendations to our Board of Directors regarding the membership of the committees of the board, assessing the performance of the board, and developing a set of corporate governance principles for Savara. The responsibilities of the Nominating and Governance Committee relating to the nomination of directors include, among other things, the following:

The Nominating and Governance Committee currently consists of Dr. McCracken, who serves as its chairman,Chair, Mr. Elam and Dr. Sun. Mr. Pauls. Mr. PikoverPauls served on the Nominating and Governance Committee as chairman until his resignation from the Board of Directorsappointment as Interim Chief Executive Officer in December 2019.September 2020, and Mr. Elam and Dr. Sun were appointed at that time. All members of the Nominating and Governance Committee are independent as currently defined in NASDAQ listing standards.

Our Board of Directors may from time to time establish other committees. Charters for the Audit Committee, the Compensation Committee and the Nominating and Governance Committee, as well as our corporate governance guidelines, are posted on our corporate website at: https://savarapharma.com/investors/corporate-governance/.

Meetings of the Board and its Committees

As required under applicable listing standards and our corporate governance guidelines, our Board of Directors meets on a regular basis to fulfill its responsibilities, including at least once each quarter, and our independent directors meet at least annually in executive session outside the presence ofnon-independent directors and management. During 2019,2020, our Board of Directors met 1011 times, the Audit Committee met sixfour times, the Compensation Committee met threesix times and the Nominating and Governance Committee met fivefour times. Each member of our Board of Directors who served on our board during all or part of 20192020 attended 75% or more of the aggregate of (i) the total number of board meetings held during the period of such member’s service and (ii) the total number of meetings of committees on which such member served during the period of such member’s service, other than Mr. Elam who attended 69% of such meetings.service.

Board Leadership Structure and Role in Risk Oversight

The leadership structure of our Board of Directors combines the positions of chairmanChair of the Board and chief executive officerChief Executive Officer and includes a lead independent director. Robert NevilleLead Independent Director. Matthew Pauls currently serves as both the chairmanChair of our Board of Directors and as our chief executive officer.Chief Executive Officer. Joseph McCracken currently serves as the lead independent directorLead Independent Director and undertakes the responsibilities specified in our corporate governance guidelines.

Our corporate governance guidelines do not require our Board of Directors to combine the roles of chairmanChair and chief executive officer,Chief Executive Officer, but our Board of Directors believes this leadership structure is the appropriate structure for our company at this time. Pursuant to our corporate governance guidelines, our Board of Directors may choose its chair in any manner that it deems to be in the best interests of our company. We believe that combining the roles of chairmanChair of our Board of Directors and chief executive officerChief Executive Officer promotes unification and direction, allowing for increased operational effectiveness and strong, efficient leadership. We believe Mr. NevillePauls is best positioned to identify strategic priorities, lead critical discussion and execute our business plans. We believe that the leadership structure of our Board of Directors and its committees provides independent oversight that balances Mr. Neville’sPauls’ combined role, which helps ensure a strong, independent, and active Board of Directors.

Our Board of Directors is responsible for oversight of risks facing our company, while our management is responsible forday-to-day management of risk. Our Board of Directors as a whole directly administers its risk oversight function. In addition, the risk oversight function is also administered through the committees of our Board of Directors, which oversee risks inherent in their respective areas of responsibility, reportingreport to our Board of Directors regularly and involvinginvolve the boardBoard as necessary. For example, the Audit Committee oversees our financial exposure and financial reporting related risks, and the Compensation Committee reviews risks related to our compensation programs and practices and makes recommendations to our boardBoard regarding oversight of such risks. Our Board of Directors as a whole directly oversees our strategic and business risk, including product development risk and business continuity risk, through regular interactions with our management. We believe our board’sBoard’s leadership structure supports its role in risk oversight, with our executive officers responsible for assessing and managing risks facing our company on aday-to-day basis and the members of our Board of Directors providing oversight of such risk management.

Director Resignation Policy

Under Delaware law, an incumbent director may remain in office notwithstanding the failure to receive the required vote forre-election until the director’s successor is duly elected. To address this “holdover rule,” our corporate governance guidelines include a director resignation policy whereby our Board of Directors will nominate forre-election only those directors who tender an irrevocable, contingent resignation in writing to the chair of our board.Board of Directors. The resignation becomes effective only if (a) the director fails to receive a sufficient number of votes forre-election at a meeting of stockholders at which director elections are held and (b) our Board of Directors accepts the resignation. If a director fails to receive the required vote forre-election, the Nominating and Governance Committee, or such other committee designated by our Board of Directors, which we refer to as the “reviewing committee,” will act promptly to consider the director’s resignation and recommend to the full Board of Directors whether to accept or reject the resignation, or whether other action should be taken. Our Board of Directors expects the director whose resignation is under consideration to abstain from participating in any decision regarding that resignation. In considering whether to accept or reject a director’s resignation, each of the reviewing committee and our Board of Directors may consider any factors it deems relevant. Within 90 days after the date of the certification of the election results for the applicable stockholders’ meeting, our Board of Directors will act on the resignation, taking into account the reviewing committee’s recommendation, and publicly disclose its decision.

Prohibition on Hedging and Speculative Transactions Involving our Securities

As part of our insider trading policy, our directors and employees (including our executive officers) and designated consultants, advisors and contractors to our company are prohibited from engaging in speculative transactions involving our securities, including short sales, “sales against the box” or any equivalent transaction involving our securities (or the securities of any of our customers, vendors, suppliers or other business partners). In addition, as part of our insider trading policy, our directors, officers and other employees and consultants, advisors and contractors to our company are prohibited from engaging in hedging or derivative transactions involving our securities, such as “cashless” collars, forward sales, equity swaps and other similar or related transactions. Further, our insider trading policy states that our directors and employees (including our executive officers) and other persons subject to the policy are not permitted to hypothecate or pledge our securities to secure a loan and that they cannot purchase our securities “on margin” (that is, borrow funds to purchase securities, including in connection with exercising any stock options).

CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY

Savara’s mission is to “positively impact the lives we touch.” In pursuing that mission, we are committed to five key values: Courageous, Collaborative, Ethical, Nurturing and Excellence. Our mission, informed by our key values, is at the heart of everything that we do, including our approach to corporate responsibility. Below are a few highlights of our commitment to corporate responsibility.

DIRECTOR NOMINATIONS

Criteria for Board Membership and Process for Identifying and Evaluating Nominees

In recommending candidates for appointment or election to our Board of Directors, the Nominating and Governance Committee considers the appropriate balance of experience, skills and characteristics required of our Board of Directors and seeks to ensure that at least a majority of the directors are independent under NASDAQ listing standards and that the board’sBoard’s Audit Committee and Compensation Committee will be comprised of directors who meet applicable NASDAQ listing standards and SEC rules regarding qualifications to serve on such committees. Candidates for director are selected on the basis of their depth and breadth of experience, wisdom, integrity, ability to make independent analytical inquiries, understanding of our business environment, willingness to devote adequate time to board duties, the interplay of the candidate’s experience and skills with those of other directors and the extent to which the candidate would be a desirable addition to our boardBoard and any of its committees. Directors generally will not be nominated forre-election at any annual or special meeting held after their 80th birthday. In addition, our corporate governance guidelines require that directors limit their service on boards of directors of public companies to a total of four (including service on our board)Board). Other than the foregoing, there are no stated minimum criteria for director nominees, although the Nominating and Governance Committee may also consider such other factors as it may deem are in the best interests of our company and its stockholders.

The Nominating and Governance Committee does not have a policy regarding board diversity, but it recognizes the importance of diversity to a well-functioning board. When identifying and selecting director nominees, it takes into account diversity of background, skills, professional experience and perspective within the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. The Nominating and Governance Committee is committed to ensuring that the board reflects a diverse range of viewpoints. In 2020, the Board amended the corporate governance guidelines to note the importance of diversity and specify that when assessing candidates for Board membership, the Board shall strive to achieve a diverse balance of experiences, skills, perspectives, and backgrounds among its members, including with regard to gender, age, race, ethnicity, and other attributes.

In the case of incumbent directors whose terms of office are set to expire, the Nominating and Governance Committee reviews these directors’ overall service to the company during their terms, including the number of meetings attended, level of participation, quality of performance and any other relationships and transactions that might impair the directors’ independence. In the case of new director candidates, the Nominating and Governance Committee also determines whether the nominee is independent for NASDAQ purposes, which determination is based upon applicable NASDAQ listing standards and applicable SEC rules and regulations. The Nominating and Governance Committee then uses its network of contacts to compile a list of potential candidates, but may also engage, if it deems appropriate, a professional search firm. The Nominating and Governance Committee conducts any appropriate and necessary inquiries into the backgrounds and qualifications of possible candidates after considering the function and needs of our Board of Directors. The Nominating and Governance Committee meets to discuss and consider the candidates’ qualifications and then selects a nominee by majority vote which is typicallythen recommended to the full Board of Directors.

Stockholder Recommendations

The Nominating and Governance Committee will consider director candidates recommended by stockholders. The Nominating and Governance Committee does not intend to alter the manner in which it evaluates candidates, including the minimum criteria set forth above, based on whether or not the candidate was recommended by a stockholder. Stockholders who wish to recommend individuals for consideration by the Nominating and Governance Committee to become nominees for election to our Board of Directors may do so by delivering a written recommendation to the Nominating and Governance Committee at the following address: c/o Savara Inc., 6836 Bee Cave Road, Building III, Suite 200, Austin, TX 78746, Attn: Corporate Secretary. Submissions must include the following information: the name, age, business address and residence address of

the proposed nominee; a statement of the proposed nominee’s business experience and educational background; the proposed nominee’s principal occupation or employment; the class and number of shares of our capital stock beneficially owned by the proposed nominee; a detailed description of all relationships, arrangements or

COMMUNICATIONS WITH DIRECTORS

Stockholders who wish to communicate with our Board of Directors or an individual director may do so by sending a written communication addressed to the board or an individual director to: Savara Inc., 6836 Bee Cave Road, Building III, Suite 200, Austin, TX 78746, Attention: Investor Relations. Submitting stockholders should indicate they are a stockholder of our company. Depending on the subject matter, investor relations will: forward the inquiry to the chair of our Board of Directors, who may forward the inquiry to a particular director if the inquiry is addressed to a particular director; forward the inquiry to the appropriate personnel within our company (for instance, if it is primarily commercial in nature); attempt to handle the inquiry directly (for instance, if it is a request for information about our company or a stock-related matter); or not forward the inquiry, if it relates to an improper or inappropriate topic or is otherwise irrelevant.

Any stockholder who wishes to communicate with our Board of Directors to report complaints or concerns related to accounting, internal accounting controls or auditing may submit a report telephonically or through aweb-based system via the toll-free telephone number or the internet address provided in our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics, which is available on our corporate website atwww.savarapharma.com.

We encourage but do not require our directors to attend our annual meetings of stockholders. FiveSeven of the seveneight directors serving on our boardBoard at the time of our 20192020 annual meeting of stockholders attended the annual meeting.

EXECUTIVE OFFICERS

Our current executive officers, their ages and positions held as of April 1, 2020,2021, are as follows:

Biographical Information

Robert NevilleMatthew Pauls.For biographical information regarding Mr. Neville,Pauls, see “Nominees for Election to the Board” above.

Taneli Jouhikainen.Dr. Jouhikainen has served as our President and Chief Operating Officer since April 2017. Dr. Jouhikainen is aco-founder of Private Savara and served as Chief Operating Officer of the company beginning in October 2009 and President beginning in December 2014. From October 2006 until September 2009, he served at Akela Pharma, Inc., a public clinical stage specialty pharmaceutical company focused on orphan drugs and inhalation products, first as Head of Corporate Development, and subsequently as interim CEO until the company’s merger with Nventa Biopharmaceuticals. From January 2004 to September 2006, he served as President of LAB Pharma Oy, and Head of the Drug Development Business Unit of its parent company, LAB International, Inc., a public clinical stage specialty pharmaceutical company. From January 2001 to January 2004, he served at Focus Inhalation Oy, a clinical stage specialty pharmaceutical company focusing on inhaled products, first as Vice President of Business Development & Strategy, and subsequently as President and Chief Executive Officer, until the merger of Focus Inhalation with LAB International, Inc. From May 1994 to December 2000, he served at Schering AG, a global pharmaceutical company, first as Research Manager, and subsequently as Head of Clinical Development. Dr. Jouhikainen holds an MD and a Ph.D. in hematology and immunology from the University of Helsinki, and an MBA from the Helsinki School of Economics.

Badrul Chowdhury.Dr..Dr. Chowdhury has served as our Chief Medical Officer since November 2019. Dr. Chowdhury was previously employed by AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, where he served as SVP, Chief Physician-Scientist for Respiratory, Inflammation and Autoimmunity Late Stage Development in Biopharmaceuticals R&D from April 2019 to November 2019 and from April 2018 to April 2019 served as SVP, Research and Development at AstraZeneca Medimmune and Head of Respiratory, Inflammation and Autoimmunity at MedImmune. Prior to his positions at AstraZeneca, Dr. Chowdhury served at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for more than 20 years, including positions as Director, Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Rheumatology Products, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) from March 2010 to April 2018 and as Director, Division of Pulmonary and Allergy Drug Products, CDER from July 2002 to March 2010. Dr. Chowdhury served on the board of directors of Proteostasis Therapeutics, Inc. from May 2019 to December 2020. Dr. Chowdhury has a M.B., B.S. in Medicine from University of Dhaka, Dhaka Medical College, Bangladesh, and a Ph.D. in Immunology from Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada. He completed Internal Medicine residency training from the Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, Michigan, and Fellowship training in Allergy and Immunology from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health (NIH), Bethesda, Maryland. He is double board certified in Internal Medicine and Allergy and Immunology.

David Lowrance.Mr..Mr. Lowrance has served as our Chief Financial Officer since April 2017November 2016 and Secretary since July 2017. Mr. Lowrance served as Private Savara’s Chief Financial Officer beginning in November 2016. From September 2014 to October 2016, Mr. Lowrance served as the Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of Edgemont Pharmaceuticals, a fully-integrated specialty pharmaceutical company with multiple marketed

SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT

The following table sets forth information regarding beneficial ownership of our common stock as of March 30, 2020April 12, 2021 (the “Evaluation Date”), or an earlier date for information based on filings with the SEC, by (a) each person known to us to beneficially own more than 5% of the outstanding shares of our common stock, (b) each director and nominee for director, (c) each of the named executive officers listed in the summary compensation table included in this proxy statement, and (d) all of our current directors and executive officers as a group. Percent of beneficial ownership is based on 50,842,629113,578,654 shares of our common stock outstanding as of the Evaluation Date.

Beneficial ownership is determined in accordance with the rules of the SEC and includes voting or investment power with respect to the securities. Shares of common stock that may be acquired by an individual or group within 60 days of the Evaluation Date, pursuant to the exercise of options or warrants, are deemed to be outstanding for the purpose of computing the percentage ownership of such individual or group but are not deemed to be outstanding for the purpose of computing the percentage ownership of any other person shown in the table.

Except as indicated in footnotes to this table, we believe that the stockholders named in this table have sole voting and investment power with respect to all shares of common stock shown to be beneficially owned by them, based on information provided to us by such stockholders. Unless otherwise indicated, the address for each stockholder listed is: c/o Savara Inc., 6836 Bee Cave Road, Building III, Suite 200, Austin, TX 78746.

CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS

Our Audit Committee’s charter requires that it reviews and approves any proposed related-party transaction that would require disclosure pursuant to Item 404(a) ofRegulation S-K.

Savara had no related party transactions requiring disclosure under applicable SEC rules for the year ended December 31, 2019,2020, and no such related party transaction is currently proposed.

DELINQUENT SECTION 16(a) REPORTS

Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, requires our officers and directors, and persons who own more than 10% of our common stock, to file reports of securities ownership and changes in such ownership with the SEC. Our officers and directors and persons who own more than 10% of our common stock also are required by rules promulgated by the SEC to furnish us with copies of all Section 16(a) reports they file. Based solely upon a review of the copies of such reports furnished to us and written representations from our directors and executive officers, we believe that all Section 16(a) filing requirements were timely met during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020 except for one late Form 4 filing by Dr. Ricky Sun with respect to an option award on March 10, 2020.

EQUITY COMPENSATION PLAN INFORMATION

The table below provides information about our common stock that, as of December 31, 2020, may be issued upon the exercise of options and the vesting of RSUs under the following equity compensation plans (which are all our equity compensation plans; provided, however, that new equity awards may only be issued under the 2015 Omnibus Incentive Plan):

COMPENSATION DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS

Introduction

The following Compensation Discussion and Analysis describes our compensation philosophy and the material elements of compensation in 20192020 for our executive officers identified in the Summary Compensation Table below, who are referred to as our “Named Executive Officers” or “NEOs.” For the year ended December 31, 2019,2020, our Named Executive Officers were:

Overview

We believe hiring and retaining well performing executives is important to our ongoing success.Oursuccess.Our executive compensation program is intended to attract and retain qualified executive officers and to align the interests of our executive officers with those of our stockholders by incentivizing and rewarding achievement of business objectives that Savara believes will enhance Savara’s value and by promoting commitment to long-term success. As a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, these objectives are to be accomplished primarily by positioning us to successfully execute our drug product development and regulatory approval efforts and to translate those efforts, over time, into revenues and income from commercialization of, or strategic collaborations with respect to, our product candidates. To that end, our executive compensation packages include a base salary to provide an element of income stability and security that compensates our executive officers for expectedday-to-day performance, annual performance-based cash incentives to motivate our executive officers to achieve near-term corporate goals that are set by our Board of Directors and intended to enhance the value of our company, and significant long-term incentives in the form of stock-based compensation to further align the interests of our executive officers with those of our stockholders, reward long-term value-creation, and increase retention. The components of our executive compensation program also are intended to complement each other and offset risk of overemphasis on short-term goals to the detriment of long-term value creation.

Neither our Board of Directors nor the Compensation Committee of our Board of Directors (our “Compensation Committee”) has adopted any formal or informal policies or guidelines for allocating compensation between cash andnon-cash compensation, or among different forms ofnon-cash compensation. The determination of the Board of Directors or Compensation Committee as to the appropriate use and weight of each component of executive compensation has been historically subjective, based on its view of the relative importance of each component in meeting our overall objectives.

Our Compensation Committee is responsible for designing our executive compensation program each year and recommending it for approval by our Board of Directors. The Compensation Committee considers a number of factors, including the input of our chief executive officer related to the compensation of executives other than himself. Additionally,In 2019, we announced that our IMPALA clinical trial did not meet its primary endpoint and that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration indicated data from the IMPALA trial did not provide sufficient evidence of efficacy and safety. As a result, in December 2019 we determined we would not increase employee salaries in 2020, and the Compensation Committee did not recommend an increase in salaries or annual cash incentives as a percentage of salary for our executive officers.

In late 2020, our Compensation Committee engaged Setren, Smallberg & AssociatesAon-Radford (“Setren”Radford”), an independent executive compensation consultant, to assist in evaluating our compensation practices, including measuring the competitiveness of our compensation practices against an appropriate peer group. Prior to engaging Radford, our Compensation Committee conducted a specific review of its relationship with Radford and determined that Radford’s work for the committee did not raise any conflicts of interest, consistent with the guidance provided under the Dodd-Frank Act, and by the SEC and NASDAQ rules. Radford reports directly to our Compensation Committee Chair, takes direction from our Compensation Committee, and does not provide Savara with any services other than the services provided at the request of our Compensation Committee. Our Compensation Committee continues to monitor the independence of its compensation consultant on a periodic basis.

The Compensation Committee and SetrenRadford reviewed data from the Radford Global Life Science IndexSciences Survey as well as the compensation practices of a peer group of comparable companies. The Compensation Committee also considered the company’s performance and the performance of each of the executive officers. Based on that review, in December 2018,2020, our Compensation Committee recommended, and our Board of Directors approved, compensation packages for our executive officers that included base salary and annual performance-based cash compensation targets for 2019. In December 2019, our Board of Directors, upon the recommendation of our Compensation Committee, (i) evaluated the achievement of the performance-based targets and (ii) approved equity awards to each of our named executive officers.

To effectively recruit, retain and motivate key employees, we believe our executive compensation must be competitive within the peer group in which we compete, while also aligned with the interest of our stockholders. Our Compensation Committee used the compensation data from the peer group as well as available survey data to assist in its evaluation of the compensation of our executive officers and as a factor in its recommendations.recommendations for equity awards in 2020.

Executive Compensation Components

Base Salary

The purpose of the base salary component of our executive compensation program is to provide a level of income that allows us to attract and retain executive talent and mitigate pressure to focus on stock price performance to the detriment of other important aspects of our business by providing an element of income stability and security. The base salary represents fixed cash compensation recognizing individual performance, scope of responsibility, leadership skills and experience, and it compensates an executive for performing his or her job responsibilities on aday-to-day basis. The base salaries of our executive officers are initially established througharm’s-length negotiation at the time of hire. Base salaries are then reviewed at least annually by the Compensation Committee and may be adjusted to realign with market levels after taking into account individual

The 2020 target bonus amounts for Mr. Pauls and Dr. Chowdhury were established in their respective employment agreements that were negotiated and entered into at their time of hire. In December 2018,May 2020, the Compensation Committee determined the target bonus amounts andfor our other named executives. In line with the performance targets for 2019. After considering market data from Radford and the practices of the peer group, as well as input from Setren,decision to keep executive salaries at 2019 levels, the Compensation Committee also recommended, and the Board of Directors approved, that the target bonus amounts remain at 50%unchanged from those in 2019. The approved 2020 target bonus amounts as a percent of base salary for each of the chiefnamed executive officer and chief operating officer and increase from 35% to 40% of base salary for the chief financial officer. officers were as follows:

The total bonus opportunity for each executive was based on the achievement of certain performance goals. For Mr. Neville, the boardchief executive officer, the Board determined that the achievement of companywide goals established by the chief executive officer and the Board of Directors would represent 100% of the target bonus award. For each of Dr. Jouhikainen and Mr. Lowrance, the boardother executive officers, the Board determined that the achievement of the companywide goals established by the chief executive officer and the Board of Directors would represent 25% of the target bonus award, the achievement of individual performance measures would represent 50% of the award, and 25% of the award would be determined at the discretion of the chief executive officer. For Dr. Jouhikainen,Chowdhury, the individual performance measures consisted of objectives related to our exploratory pipeline, improvement of internal company processes,clinical and human resources activities related to key positions.regulatory activities. For Mr. Lowrance, the individual performance measures consisted of objectives related to financial reporting metrics, human resources activities, and the evaluation of internal company processes and the implementation of improvements to those processes. For Dr. Jouhikainen, the individual performance measures consisted of objectives related directly to the companywide goals.

The companywide goals for 20192020 were intended to focus the management team on advancing the company’sour product candidates and expanding its pipeline.improving the quality function. Specifically, the fiscal 20192020 corporate performance goals were:

The following table sets forth the total awards recommended by the Compensation Committee and approved by our Board of Directors in December 2019:2020 for the executives serving at that date:

Long-Term Incentive Awards – Stock Options

We believe that stock-based compensation, such as stock options, serves to further align the interests of our executive officers with those of our stockholders, reward long-term value-creation, and increase retention, and it is therefore a significant element of our executive compensation. We typically grant options to our employees, including executives, upon the commencement of their employment and make additional grants on an annual basis as part of the annual review of performance and compensation. Option awards typically vest on a quarterly basis over a four-year period following the grant date. All option awards typically have a10-year term.

Because vesting occurs over multiple years and only if the employee continues to be employed with us at the time of vesting and because a stock option becomes valuable only if our stock price is greater at the time an option is exercised than it was at the time the option was granted, our Board of Directors believes these equity awards encourage our employees to remain with our company, promote a long-term perspective on corporate success, directly incentivize the NEOs to build long-term value, and align the interests of our employees, including the NEOs, with our stockholders. The multi-year vesting feature and10-year term also foster employee retention.

Other Elements of Compensation

We maintain broad-based benefits that are provided to all regular, full-time employees (including the NEOs), including health, dental and vision insurance, health savings accounts with company contribution, disability insurance, paid time off, and a 401(k) plan with company match potential. We believe these benefits enable us to offer competitive compensation packages and support employee focus and productivity.

We did not provide any of the NEOs with perquisites in 20192020 that exceeded $10,000 in the aggregate for any person.

NEO Employment Agreements

We believe that concerns about potential job loss or the possibility or occurrence of achange-in-control can create uncertainty for our named executive officers that may negatively affect their performance. Accordingly, we have entered into employment agreements with each of Mr. Neville, Dr. Jouhikainen, and Mr. Lowrance,our executive officers, which provide for severance benefits upon a qualifying termination of employment and the executive’s compliance with certain post-termination obligations, including delivery of a general release of claims. Those severance benefits are described below under “Potential Payments upon Termination or Change in Control.”

Results of “Say on Pay” Advisory Vote on Executive Compensation

At our 20192020 annual meeting of stockholders, approximately 79%78% of shares that voted on the “say on pay” proposal approved, on an advisory basis, the compensation paid to our named executive officers as disclosed in our definitive proxy statement for that meeting. By the time of the 20192020 annual meeting in May 2019,2020, the Compensation Committee had already recommended, and the Board of Directors had approved, severala majority of the components of 20192020 compensation for the named executive officers. However,officers; however, the Compensation Committee considered the results of the 2019 advisory vote when making their recommendations. Additionally, the Compensation Committee considered the results of the 2020 advisory vote when recommending the remaining elements of executive compensation for 2019. Additionally, beginning in 2020, our stockholder advisory votes on executive compensation will be held each year, and our2020. Our Compensation Committee intends to monitor the results of thoseadvisory votes in making future recommendations.

Prohibition on Hedging the Economic Risk of Ownership in Our Securities

For a description of restrictions related to hedging, please see the section entitled “Prohibition on Hedging and Speculative Transactions Involving our Securities.”

certain circumstances, helps us achieve our business objectives and aligns the interest of our executive officers with those of our stockholders. We believe that our 20192020 executive compensation was appropriate in that regard.

Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation

During 2019,2020, the Compensation Committee consisted of Mr. Elam, Dr. McCracken and Mr. Pauls, until December 2019 when Mr. Pauls resigned from the Compensation Committee and Dr. vanEs-JohanssonEs-Johansson. joined. No member of the Compensation Committee has ever been an officer or employee of ours. None of our executive officers currently serve, or served during 2019,2020, on the compensation committee or board of directors of any other entity that has one or more executive officers serving as a member of our Board of Directors or Compensation Committee.

Compensation Committee Report

The Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors of Savara Inc. has reviewed and discussed with management the Compensation Discussion and Analysis contained in this Proxy Statement and, based on such review and discussions, has recommended to the Board of Directors that the Compensation Discussion and Analysis be included in this Proxy Statement.

COMPENSATION COMMITTEE

Nevan Elam

Joseph McCracken

An vanEs-Johansson

The material in the foregoing Compensation Committee Report is not “soliciting material,” shall not be deemed “filed” with the SEC, and shall not be incorporated by reference in any filing of Savara under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, whether made before or after the date hereof and irrespective of any general incorporation language in any such filing.

EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION TABLES

Summary Compensation Table

The following table sets forth compensation information for the NEOs for the years ended December 31, 20192020 and 2018:2019:

Grants of Plan-Based Awards

The following table sets forth information regarding grants of plan-based awards to the NEOs for the year ended December 31, 2019:2020:

Outstanding Equity Awards at FiscalYear-End 20192020

The following table sets forth information regarding outstanding equity awards held by the NEOs as of December 31, 2019.2020.

Option Exercises in Fiscal Year 20192020

The following table provides, for eachNone of the NEOs information with respect to the exercise of stockexercised options on an aggregate basis, during 2019:2020.

Pension Benefits

We do not maintain any plan that provides for payments or other benefits at, following, or in connection with retirement, other than a 401(k) plan.

Nonqualified Deferred Compensation

We do not maintain any defined contribution or other plan that provides for the deferral of compensation on a basis that is nottax-qualified.

Potential Payments upon Termination or Change in Control

NEO Employment Agreements

As discussed above under “Compensation Discussion and Analysis,” we have entered into executive employment agreements with each of Mr. Neville, Dr. Jouhikainen, and Mr. Lowrance.the NEOs. Those executive employment agreements require us to make specified payments and provide specified benefits related to their outstanding stock option awards in the event of a qualifying termination of employment, subject to the officer’s compliance with the terms and conditions in the agreement. In August 2018, upon

Mr. Pauls

The executive employment agreement with Mr. Pauls provides that if Mr. Pauls’ employment is terminated other than for “cause” (as defined in the recommendationagreement), due to his death or disability, or Mr. Pauls resigns from such employment for “good reason” (as defined in the agreement) and such termination occurs outside of the Compensation Committee,period beginning three months prior to, and ending 12 months following, a “change of control” (as defined in the agreements) (the “change of control period”), then, subject to him timely signing and not revoking a separation agreement and release of claims agreement, Mr. Pauls would be entitled to receive:

The executive employment agreement also provides that if we entered into amendmentsterminate Mr. Pauls’ employment other than for cause, death, or disability, or Mr. Pauls resigns from such employment for good reason and such termination occurs during the change of control period, then, subject to the employment agreementsexecutive timely signing and not revoking a separation agreement and release of claims agreement, Mr. Pauls would be entitled to changereceive:

Dr. Chowdhury and Mr. Lowrance

The employment agreements with each of Mr. Neville, Dr. Jouhikainen,Chowdhury and Mr. Lowrance provide that if we terminate Mr. Neville’s, Dr. Jouhikainen’s,Chowdhury’s or Mr. Lowrance’s employment other than for “cause” (as defined in the agreements), death, or disability, or Mr. Neville, Dr. Jouhikainen,Chowdhury or Mr. Lowrance resigns from such employment for “good reason” (as defined in the agreements) and such termination occurs outside of the period beginning three months prior to, and ending 12 months following, a “change of control” (as defined in the agreements) (the “change of control period”), then, subject to the executive timely signing and not revoking a separation agreement and release of claims agreement, each of Mr. Neville, Dr. Jouhikainen,Chowdhury and Mr. Lowrance would be entitled to receive:

Potential Payments Upon a Qualifying Termination of Employment

The following table sets forth quantitative estimates of the benefits that would have accrued to each of Mr. Neville,Pauls, Dr. Jouhikainen,Chowdhury, and Mr. Lowrance pursuant to their respective employment agreements and our vacation policy if there had been a qualifying termination of his employment on December 31, 2019.2020.

The median of the annual total compensation of all employees of our company, except our CEO, for 20192020 was $233,712,$202,518, and the annual total compensation on an annualized basis for our CEO, Mr. Neville,Pauls, for 20192020 was $1,047,816.$2,463,462. As a result, our CEO’s 20192020 annual total compensation was approximately 4.512.2 times that of the median annual total compensation of all employees of our company.

We identified the median employee based on the total annual compensation, as determined using the Summary Compensation Table methodology set out in item 402(c)(2)(x) of regulationS-K, of all full-time and part-time employees as of December 31, 2019.2020. In making the calculation, we used an annualized compensation amount for employees who were employed less than the full year. In calculating the compensation of our CEO, we elected to annualize Mr. Pauls’ compensation because he commenced employment with us in September 2020.

DIRECTOR COMPENSATION

The following table shows compensation information for the individuals who served asnon-employee directors during the year ended December 31, 2019.2020. The compensation received by Mr. NevillePauls for his service as a non-employee director is reflected in the executive compensation tables above. Mr. Pauls did not receive any additional compensation for his service as a director.director following his employment with us.

Director Compensation for Fiscal Year 20192020

Overview ofNon-Employee Director Compensation

With the assistance of the Compensation Committee, our Board of Directors periodically reviews and evaluates the director compensation policy and adopts changes designed to allow us to recruit and retain individuals with the requisite experience, skills and characteristics for membership on our Board of Directors. The currentnon-employee director compensation policy was recommended by the Compensation Committee and approved by the Board of Directors in December 2017 and went into effect in 2018. It was determined at that time thatUnder the policy, would be reassessed in two years. In December 2019, our Compensation Committee reviewed ournon-employee director compensation policy and recommended to our Board of Directors that there be no changes made for 2020, which recommendation was approved by our Board of Directors. Under the policy,non-employee directors are compensated through a combination of cash fees, in the form of retainers and meeting attendance fees and equity awards, in the form of options. Additionally, we reimbursenon-employee

Cash Fees

Under the policy in place prior to December 2020, each non-employee director received an annual fee of $32,000 in cash for serving on the Board of Directors, as well as $2,000 for attendance at each in person board meeting.Board meeting (this was paid for attendance at quarterly meetings conducted via videoconference following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic). There arewere no additional fees for meetings attended by telephone or for attending individual meetings of committees of the Board of Directors. In addition, the chairpersonschairs and members of the three standing committees of the Board of Directors will bewere entitled to the following annual cash fees:

Beginning in 2021, the annual cash fee was increased to $40,000, the meeting attendance fee was eliminated, and the lead independent director will be entitled to an annual cash fee of $30,000. Additionally, the chairs and members of the three standing committees of the Board of Directors are entitled to the following annual cash fees:

Option Awards

In addition to the cash compensation, beginning in December 2020, eachnon-employee director receives an annual grant of an option to purchase 12,00040,000 shares of our common stock, which vest in full on the one-year anniversary of the grant date. The prior policy provided for an annual grant of 12,000 shares of our common stock with vesting in twelve equal quarterly installments. Each stock option award granted pursuant to our director compensation policy will be granted under the 2015 Omnibus Incentive Plan, or any amendment or restatement thereof, will have an exercise price per share equal to the fair market value (as defined in the 2015 Omnibus Incentive Plan) of a share of our common stock on the date the option award is granted, and will have a term equal to the shorter of (i) ten years from the date the option award is granted (subject to a30-day extension in certain limited circumstances) and (ii) three years from the date suchnon-employee director ceases to provide services (as defined in the 2015 Omnibus Incentive Plan) to us for any reason other than such director’s death or disability. In addition, in the event of a change of control of our company, each option award will vest and become exercisable on the day prior to the date of the change in control if the director is then providing services (as defined in the 2015 Omnibus Incentive Plan), and each option award will terminate on the date of the change in control to the extent not exercised.

AUDIT COMMITTEE REPORT

Our management has the primary responsibility for our financial reporting process, accounting principles and internal controls as well as the preparation of our financial statements. Under its charter, the Audit Committee oversees our accounting and financial reporting process and audits of our financial statements on behalf of our Board of Directors. Each of the members of the Audit Committee meets the applicable independence standards and qualification requirements.

The Audit Committee appointed RSM US LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, as our independent auditor for fiscal year 2019.2020. As such, RSM US LLP was responsible for expressing an opinion on our annual financial statements based on an audit conducted in accordance with the standards established by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board.

In this context and in connection with the audited financial statements contained in our Annual Report on Form10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019,2020, the Audit Committee:

AUDIT COMMITTEE

David A. Ramsay, Chair

Richard J. Hawkins

Matthew PaulsAn van Es-Johansson

The preceding “Audit Committee Report” shall not be deemed soliciting material or filed with the SEC, nor shall any information in this report be incorporated by reference into any past or future filing under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, except to the extent Savara specifically incorporates it by reference into such filing.

PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTANT FEES AND SERVICES

The Audit Committee has appointed RSM US LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, as our independent auditor for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2020.2021. We are asking our stockholders to ratify this appointment. See “Proposal 3 – Ratification of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm” below.

Change of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

On March 29, 2019, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (“PwC”) was dismissed as our independent registered public accounting firm. The decision to change accounting firms was approved by the Audit Committee.

The reports of PwC on our consolidated financial statements for the years ended December 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017 did not contain any adverse opinion or disclaimer of opinion, and were not qualified or modified as to uncertainty, audit scope, or accounting principles.

During the two most recent fiscal years ended December 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, and the subsequent interim period from January 1, 2019 through March 29, 2019, there were no: (1) disagreements (as defined in Item 304(a)(1)(iv) of RegulationS-K and the related instructions) with PwC on any matter of accounting principles or practices, financial statement disclosure, or auditing scope or procedures, which disagreement if not resolved to the satisfaction of PwC would have caused PwC to make reference thereto in its reports on the consolidated financial statements for such years, or (2) reportable events (as described in Item 304(a)(1)(v) of RegulationS-K).

In accordance with Item 304(a)(3) ofRegulation S-K, we provided PwC with a copy of the above disclosures and requested that PwC furnish us with a letter addressed to the SEC stating whether or not PwC agrees with our statements above. A copy of PwC’s letter, dated April 3, 2019, stating its agreement with such statements was filed as Exhibit 16.1 to our Current Report on Form8-K filed with the SEC on April 3, 2019.

On April 11, 2019, the Audit Committee approved the engagement of RSM US LLP (“RSM”) as our independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2019.

During the Company’s two most recent fiscal years ended December 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017 and in the subsequent interim period from January 1, 2019 through April 11, 2019, neither the Companywe nor anyone acting on itsour behalf consulted with RSM regarding any of the matters or events set forth in Item 304(a)(2) of RegulationS-K.

Fees of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

In April 2019, theThe Audit Committee of our Board of Directors selected RSM as our independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal yearyears ended December 31, 2020 and December 31, 2019. Prior to RSM, PwC was engaged as our independent registered public accounting firm and PwC audited our consolidated financial statements for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018.

The following table presents the fees for professional services rendered by RSM for the audit of our consolidated financial statements for the fiscal yearyears ended December 31, 2020 and December 31, 2019 and by PwC for the audit of our consolidated financial statements for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018. During those periods, no other category of services was provided to us by RSM or PwC.

Pre-Approval Policies and Procedures

Pursuant to its charter, the Audit Committee must approve, in advance, all audit, review and attest services and all permissiblenon-audit services (including any permissible tax or internal control-related services) to be provided by our independent registered public accounting firm. The Audit Committee maypre-approve services as part of its approval of the scope of the engagement of the independent registered public accounting firm or on an individualcase-by-case basis. The Audit Committee considers whether the provision of anynon-audit service is compatible with maintaining the independence of our auditors. The Audit Committee’s charter provides that it may adopt policies and procedures for thepre-approval of permissible services, which may include delegation of authority to a designated member or members of the Audit Committee to approve permissible services so long as any such approvals are disclosed to the full Audit Committee.

PROPOSAL 1 — ELECTION OF DIRECTORS

At the Annual Meeting, our stockholders will vote on the election of eightseven directors to serve forone-year terms until the 20212022 annual meeting of stockholders and until their successors are elected and qualified, or until their earlier death, retirement, resignation or removal. Our Board of Directors has nominated Robert Neville,Matthew Pauls, Nevan Elam, Richard J. Hawkins, Joseph S. McCracken, Matthew Pauls, David A. Ramsay, Ricky Sun and An vanEs-Johansson for election to our Board of Directors at the Annual Meeting. The director nominees have indicated that they are willing and able to serve as directors. If any of the nominees becomes unable or unwilling to serve, the proxies being solicited by this proxy statement will be voted for the election of any substitute nominee who shall be designated by our Board of Directors to fill the vacancy. The proxies being solicited by this proxy statement will be voted for no more than eightseven nominees at the Annual Meeting.

Assuming a quorum is present at the Annual Meeting, each director nominee who receives an affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of the shares of common stock having voting power present in person or represented by proxy at the Annual Meeting will be elected. Abstentions will have the same effect as negative votes. Brokernon-votes will not be counted toward the vote total and therefore will have no effect on the outcome of this proposal. Stockholders do not have cumulative voting rights in the election of directors.

Our Board of Directors unanimously recommends a vote “FOR” the election of Robert Neville,Matthew Pauls, Nevan Elam, Richard J. Hawkins, Joseph S. McCracken, Matthew Pauls, David A. Ramsay, Ricky Sun and An vanEs-Johansson as directors.

PROPOSAL 2 — APPROVAL OF AN AMENDMENT TO OUR CERTIFICATE OF INCORPORATION TO INCREASE THE NUMBER OF AUTHORIZED SHARES OF COMMON STOCK

AMENDED AND RESTATED 2015 OMNIBUS INCENTIVE PLAN

At the Annual Meeting, we are asking our stockholders to approve thean amendment ofto our Amended and Restated 2015 Omnibus Incentive Plan (the “2015 Plan”Certificate of Incorporation (our “Certificate of Incorporation”) to increase the number of authorized shares of common stock from 200,000,000 to 300,000,000. Our Certificate of Incorporation currently authorizes the issuance of 201,000,000 shares of capital stock, of which 1,000,000 are designated as preferred stock and 200,000,000 are designated as common stock. Our board of directors has unanimously approved an amendment to our Certificate of Incorporation to increase the number of authorized shares of common stock from 200,000,000 to 300,000,000, subject to stockholder approval. Our board of directors has declared the proposed amendment advisable and in the best interests of our company and our stockholders and is submitting it for stockholder approval at the Annual Meeting.

If our stockholders approve this proposal, our board of directors currently intends to file an amendment to our Certificate of Incorporation substantially in the form of Appendix A to this Proxy Statement with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware to increase the number of authorized shares of our common stock as soon as practicable following stockholder approval.

Current Capitalization

On April 12, 2021, our capitalization was as follows:

Based on the above information, 36,151,490 shares of our currently authorized common stock remain unissued and unreserved and available for future issuance as of April 12, 2021.

Background and Purpose of the Amendment

Since inception, we have devoted substantially all of our efforts and resources to identifying and developing our product candidates, recruiting personnel, and raising capital. We have incurred operating losses and negative cash flow from operations and have no product revenue from inception to date. We have funded our operations primarily from public offerings of our common stock, private placements of common stock and convertible preferred stock, and debt financings.

The 2015 Plan providesBoard has determined it is advisable and in the best interests of our company and our stockholders to increase the number of authorized shares of common stock in order to provide additional flexibility to issue our common stock for business and financial purposes in the grantfuture, including to raise capital, fund our operations, enter into strategic business development transactions, and continue to provide equity incentives to our employees. There are no current plans, agreements, or arrangements to issue any of incentivethe newly authorized shares that will be available if this proposal is approved; however, the Board desires the flexibility to be able to use our common stock promptly andnon-statutory stock options, appropriately for such future business and financial purposes as wellit may determine are in the best interest of our company and its stockholders. The additional shares could be used for various purposes without further stockholder approval, except as share appreciation rights, restricted shares, restricted share units, performance units, shares and other share-based awards. The 2015 Plan was originally adoptedmay be required in certain cases by our BoardCertificate of Directors on April 17, 2015 andIncorporation, applicable law, regulatory agencies, or the rules of Nasdaq.

If this proposal is not approved by our stockholders, on June 11, 2015,it is possible that our financing and it was amendedbusiness development alternatives will be limited by the lack of sufficient unissued and restated effective June 4, 2018. Our Boardunreserved authorized shares of Directors unanimously approved the amendment

common stock, and stockholder value may be harmed by this limitation. In addition, our 2015 Plan on March 10, 2020, subjectfuture success depends upon our ability to stockholder approval. If stockholders approve the amendment of the 2015 Plan, the amendment would be effective as of the date of the Annual Meeting.

As of March 30, 2020, there were only approximately 298,853 shares remaining available for future issuance under the 2015 Plan.

Reasons for Voting forattract, retain and motivate highly skilled employees, and if this Proposal

Overview

We are requesting approval of the amendment of the 2015 Plan because the number of shares currently available for future awards under the 2015 Planproposal is not adequate forapproved by our stockholders, the planlack of sufficient unissued and unreserved authorized shares of common stock to continue to serve its purposes of enabling us to attract and retain the services of employees andnon-employee directors and to motivate participants to achieve long-term objectives that we believe will benefit our stockholders. Our Board of Directors believes that the effective use of stock-based long-termprovide future equity incentive compensation is essential for our company to maintain a balanced and competitive compensation program and important toopportunities could adversely impact our ability to achieve long-term business objectives. We typically grant equity awards to our employees uponthese goals.

Effects of the commencement of their employment and makeProposed Amendment

The additional grants as part of their ongoing compensation packages. Because vesting occurs over multiple years and only if the employee continuescommon stock to be employed with us atauthorized by the timeadoption of vesting and because a stock option becomes valuable only if our stock price is greater at the time an option is exercised than it was atamendment would have rights identical to the time the option was granted, we believe these awards help to align the interests of participants with thosecurrently outstanding shares of our stockholders, reward long-term value-creation,common stock. Adoption of the proposed amendment and increase retention.

Requested Increase is Requiredissuance of the additional authorized shares of common stock would not affect the rights of the holders of currently outstanding shares of our common stock, except for effects incidental to Meet our Forecasted Needs

Our Board of Directors currently expects thatincreasing the 3,500,000 share increase under the 2015 Plan, if approved by the stockholders at the Annual Meeting, will be sufficient to meet our anticipated equity compensation needs for at least the next two years. In determining the number of additional shares to request for the 2015 Plan, our Board of Directors reviewed the total number of shares of our common stock outstanding, the total numbersuch as dilution of shares subjectany earnings per share and voting rights of current holders of common stock.

The proposed amendment to outstanding options and other awards,our Certificate of Incorporation to increase the number of shares that remain available under the 2015 Plan and management’s expectations regarding future equity compensation needs.

If our stockholders do not approve this proposal, we would be unable to use equity compensation to make our compensation packages competitive and to motivate our employees and we would likely be required to increase cash compensation to attract, retain and motivate our employees.

Key Features Designed to Protect Stockholders’ Interests

The 2015 Plan includes provisions that are considered best practices for compensation and corporate governance purposes and designed to protect our stockholders’ interests. The 2015 Plan features: