As the DOJ and SEC look into two of its senior employees, Cassava Sciences’ CEO and one senior vice president have departed the company.
Cassava Sciences on Wednesday announced that CEO Remi Barbier has resigned from his post and will no longer be on the company’s board of directors.
Richard Barry, who has previously served as a director at Cassava, will become the executive chairman of the company’s board and will act as its temporary chief executive. Cassava is currently searching for a permanent replacement for Barbier.
Also stepping down is Lindsay Burns, senior vice president of neuroscience. While Barbier and Burns will relinquish their roles “effective immediately,” the former CEO will remain an employee until September 13, 2024 “in a non-executive capacity, without duties or responsibilities,” according to Cassava’s announcement.
Meanwhile, Burns will provide consulting services to Cassava for a up to a year after her separation, furnishing assistance regarding scientific research and approvals for the company’s products. Cassava has the option to extend Burns’ consulting agreement for up to one more year.
The executive shake-up comes after the company announced earlier this month that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) are looking into two of its senior employees for alleged scientific misconduct in its Alzheimer’s disease studies. It is not clear whether Barbier and Burns are the two employees under investigation.
The federal probe pertains to Cassava’s investigational drug simufilam, which the company is currently assessing in two Phase III studies for mild-to-moderate Alzheimer’s disease. In 2021, a whistleblower claimed that the biotech had doctored some of its data related to simufilam. The allegations soon roped in the DOJ and the SEC, which launched their own separate investigations into Cassava.
Last month, a federal grand jury in the District Court of Maryland indicted CUNY researcher Hoau-Yan Wang for making “materially false, fraudulent and misleading” claims about the simufilam’s mechanism of action. Wang had previously served as a scientific advisor to Cassava. He and Burns worked together on the foundational research that led to the discovery of simufilam.
Cassava has always maintained that it did not engage in questionable scientific practices.
In addition to announcing the departure of the two executives, Cassava on Wednesday reiterated its “single-minded commitment to scientific rigor and honest transparency.” The company said that it would upload results of its trials to clinicaltrials.gov in an accurate and timely manner, while also communicating clearly to shareholders.
“While our priority remains the development of a potentially effective treatment for Alzheimer’s disease, the Board has a steadfast commitment to doing so with transparency, accountability, and highest ethical business practices,” Barry said in a statement.
