NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / March 1, 2024 / Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Cassava Sciences, Inc. ("Cassava" or the "Company") (NASDAQ:SAVA). The class action, filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, and docketed under 24 -cv- 00977, is on behalf of a class consisting of all persons and entities other than Defendants that purchased or otherwise acquired Cassava securities between August 18, 2022 and October 12, 2023, both dates inclusive (the "Class Period"), seeking to recover damages caused by Defendants' violations of the federal securities laws and to pursue remedies under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the "Exchange Act") and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, against the Company and certain of its top officials.
If you are a shareholder who purchased or otherwise acquired Cassava securities during the Class Period, you have until April 2, 2024, to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class. A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com. To discuss this action, contact Danielle Peyton at newaction@pomlaw.com or 646-581-9980 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll-free, Ext. 7980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and the number of shares purchased.
[Click here for information about joining the class action]
Cassava is a clinical-stage biotechnology company. The Company's lead therapeutic drug candidate is PTI-125 (or "simufilam"), a small molecule drug for the proposed treatment of Alzheimer's disease.
In March 2020, Cassava initiated a long-term, open-label study to evaluate the long-term safety and tolerability of simufilam 100 mg twice daily for 12 or more months in patients with Alzheimer's disease and to assess exploratory efficacy endpoints, such as changes in cognition, and biomarkers.
Then, in August 2021, a Citizen Petition requested the United States Food & Drug Administration ("FDA") to halt any phase 3 trials of simufilam due to concerns regarding data manipulation. Specifically, the Citizen Petition referenced "grave concerns about the quality and integrity of the laboratory-based studies surrounding this drug candidate and supporting the claims for its efficacy."
However, in response, Cassava denied the allegations in the Citizen Petition and instead touted the effectiveness of simufilam and the efficacy of the Company's research programs. Indeed, in a press release published shortly after the FDA received the Citizen Petition, Cassava stated that "[t]he Company stands behind its science, its scientists and its scientific collaborators." Thereafter, Cassava continued to maintain its defense of simufilam even as criticisms of simufilam were revealed from additional sources and academic journals such as Neurobiology of Aging and the Journal of Neuroscience issued "expressions of concern" regarding the efficacy of the drug.
On October 12, 2023, the peer-reviewed academic journal Science reported that Professor Hoau-Yan Wang ("Dr. Wang"), a City University of New York researcher associated with the research program for simufilam, had been investigated by university officials for possible data manipulation. Although the investigative committee did not have access to the raw data at issue and thus was unable to confirm that data manipulation had occurred, members made their conclusion based on "long-standing and egregious misconduct in data management and record keeping by Dr. Wang" and "found evidence highly suggestive of deliberate scientific misconduct" by Dr. Wang.
On this news, Cassava's stock price fell $2.68 per share, or 15.28%, to close at $14.86 per share on October 13, 2023.
As a result of Defendants' wrongful acts and omissions, and the precipitous decline in the market value of the Company's securities, Plaintiff and other Class members have suffered significant losses and damages.
The Complaint alleges that, throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and/or misleading statements and failed to disclose material adverse facts about the Company's business, operations, and prospects. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) the Company failed to maintain adequate and effective data management controls and procedures related to its drug research programs; (ii) as a result, the data published in support of simufilam were susceptible to manipulation to overstate the drug's effectiveness; (iii) accordingly, Cassava had misrepresented the efficacy of its research programs and the clinical and/or commercial prospects of simufilam; (iv) all of the foregoing, once revealed, was likely to subject the Company to significant financial and/or reputational harm; and (v) as a result, the Company's public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.
Pomerantz LLP, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, London, Paris, and Tel Aviv, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, Pomerantz pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 85 years later, Pomerantz continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered billions of dollars in damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomlaw.com.
SOURCE: Pomerantz LLP
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