SAVA action dips as Quanterix distances itself from ‘data manipulation’ claims

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On Friday, the lab that tested samples for the Cassava Sciences (SAVA) Alzheimer’s study distanced itself from the biotech company, and SAVA shares plunged for a third straight day.

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Cassava Tapped Into The Quanterix Accelerator Lab (QTRX) To Test Blind Samples Provided By Cassava For A Study On The Treatment Of Alzheimer’s Disease Presented At The Alzheimer’s Association International Conference In The Month latest. Earlier this week, a shareholder company questioned Cassava’s test results, alleging the biotech company tampered with the data.

And Quanterix wants nothing to do with the claims.

“Quanterix or its employees did not interpret the test results or prepare the data tables presented by Cassava at the Alzheimer’s Association international conference in July 2021 or otherwise,” the lab said in a written statement Friday.

In response, SAVA stock fell 26.4% to near 52.10 during morning trading on the stock market today. This added to double-digit declines on Wednesday and Thursday.

SAVA Stock continues its dive

Cassava works on an Alzheimer’s disease drug that aims to stabilize filamin A, a scaffold protein. In a nine-month interim analysis, Cassava said the treatment called simufilam improved cognition in patients with Alzheimer’s disease.

To put this in perspective, even Biogen’s Aduhelm (BIIB) only slows cognitive decline. Aduhelm is the only treatment for Alzheimer’s disease that aims to correct an underlying pathology of the disease, rather than just treating the symptoms.

But company shareholder Labaton Sucharow questioned Cassava’s results in a report released on Wednesday. The company questioned the validity of the cassava biomarker data, an analytical method called Western Blot, and the company’s analyzes on human brain tissue. SAVA stock fell 31.4% that day.

Laboratory distances from cassava

Quanterix digitizes biomarker analysis for researchers. But the company claims to have carried out sample testing on blind samples provided by cassava. He did not interpret the results or prepare the data tables that Labaton Sucharow questioned.

Cassava said on Wednesday that he supported his science and that the company had objected point by point to Labaton Sucharow’s claims. Still, SAVA stock fell again on Thursday, plunging another 12.4% in high volume, according to MarketSmith.com.

Meanwhile, Quanterix stock fell 9.2% on Thursday, but rose 7.6% at the start of trading on Friday.

Follow Allison Gatlin on Twitter at @IBD_AGatlin.

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