After-hours plunge of 30%! Cassava's Alzheimer's drug research paper suspected of fraud and under investigation.
Cassava Sciences experienced a sharp drop of 30.44% in after-hours trading on Thursday. Prior to this, there were reports that a research personnel representing the company was found to have engaged in scientific misconduct regarding the valuable Alzheimer's asset, simufilam.
According to the Zhongtong Finance APP, Cassava Sciences (SAVA.US) plummeted 30.44% after the US stock market closed on Thursday. Earlier reports stated that a research scientist working for the company was found to have engaged in scientific misconduct regarding the valuable Alzheimer's asset, simufilam.
According to the reports, Professor Hoau-Yan Wang from the City University of New York School of Medicine was accused of "serious misconduct" involving 20 research papers. A committee appointed to investigate the professor's research found that the images in his studies had been manipulated.
The committee was unable to verify these allegations as the professor did not provide the original data. However, their conclusion was based on "Wang's long-standing serious misconduct in data management and record keeping."
The investigation report "found strong evidence suggesting Wang's deliberate scientific misconduct" and involved 14 of the 31 charges brought by the Office of Research Integrity of the National Institutes of Health. It is reported that the National Institutes of Health funded Wang's research.
Furthermore, it was reported that officials from the City University of New York allegedly prevented the investigation team from accessing image files from Wang's computer for six months.
The report also pointed out that although the investigation was completed in May, the City University of New York did not take any public action against Wang.
The committee also found that Lindsay Burns, the Senior Vice President of Cassava and a neuroscientist, bears primary or partial responsibility for this misconduct as she is a co-author of many of Wang's papers related to simufilam. Burns is married to Cassava's CEO, Remi Barbier.
It is understood that the allegations of data manipulation have been plaguing Cassava for some time. This led to the consideration but ultimately the rejection by the US Securities and Exchange Commission to take action against the pharmaceutical company, a criminal investigation report by the US Department of Justice, and a citizen petition submitted to the US Food and Drug Administration to halt two late-stage trials of simufilam. However, the agency decided not to take action against Cassava.