Benzinga | Aug 27, 2021 11:32AM EDT

Cassava Sciences Issues Statement Related To 'Plasma p-tau Analysis from a Previously Disclosed Phase 2b Clinical Study in Alzheimer's Patients'

Cassava Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAVA), a biotechnology company focused on Alzheimer's disease, today released a statement regarding plasma p-tau analysis from a previously disclosed randomized, controlled Phase 2b clinical study in patients with Alzheimer's disease. For this study, Cassava Sciences contracted with Quanterix Corp., a highly regarded, independent laboratory, to perform sample testing on blinded samples.

The Phase 2b clinical study was conducted by Cassava Sciences. Quanterix' sole responsibility with regard to this clinical study was to perform sample testing, specifically, to measure levels of p-tau in plasma samples collected from study subjects.

"To ensure data integrity, it is standard industry practice to keep separate the people who generate the data from the people who analyze the data," said Remi Barbier, President & CEO. "That certainly was the case here. Anything different is a distortion of the facts."

Quanterix' sample testing was conducted entirely by its employees. Quanterix' employees were blind to treatment group, i.e., they did not know which samples were from placebo, or simufilam-treated patients. Quanterix conducted sample testing, then sent raw data to Cassava Sciences for analysis of treatment effects. Eventually, Cassava Sciences presented these data in a poster presentation at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference (AAIC) in July 2021. In keeping with scientific authorship guidelines, prior to submitting the abstract to AAIC, Cassava Sciences received permission from Quanterix to include its lab personnel in the author list.

Cassava Sciences is aware of allegations that are being made by a party that yesterday admitted it holds a short position in the Company's stock. (A short position allows an investor to profit from a drop in the Company's stock price.) Cassava Sciences believes claims made by this party regarding scientific integrity are false and misleading. The Company stands behind its science, its scientists and its scientific collaborators, and is responding to ensure the facts are known and respected.