Scientists are questioning the validity of research studies for an experimental Alzheimer's drug that caught investors' attention last year, The New York Times reported April 18.
In July 2021, Cassava Sciences said its drug simufilam improved cognition in Alzheimer's patients participating in a small clinical trial. The Austin, Texas-based biotech said the findings were a breakthrough in Alzheimer's research, and stock in the company skyrocketed.
However, several peer-reviewed studies involving the drug have since been retracted or flagged by scientific journals. The Times also spoke with nine prominent experts who questioned the companies' methodologies and trial results. Some even questioned the scientific basis of how the drug works or accused the drugmaker of manipulating its data.
"The overall conclusions with regard to Alzheimer's disease make no sense to me whatsoever," Thomas Südhof, MD, a Nobel laureate and neuroscientist at Stanford (Calif.) University, told the Times.
Cassava CEO Remi Barbier denied manipulating any data. He said some of the allegations came from "bad actors" with financial conflicts of interest who had something to gain by trying to drive down the price of the drugmaker's stock.
"They have gone, and continue to go, to unreal extremes to halt our progress," Mr. Barbier wrote in an email to the Times. "The effort to besmirch Cassava Sciences appears endless."
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