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Drug Discovery and Development

Athira Pharma CEO steps down in the wake of research misconduct allegations

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Athira PharmaShares of Athira Pharma (NSDQ:ATHA) jumped 9.35% in mid-day trading after the company announced the resignation of embattled CEO Leen Kawas.

Kawas will also give up her seat on the Bothell, Washington–based company’s board.

Facing allegations that she doctored a series of images in research papers, Leen Kawas was placed on leave in June.

Several papers she co-authored at the Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics received expressions of concern regarding the possibility of manipulated images.

Mark J. Litton, PhD, MBA

Mark J. Litton

An internal investigation recently concluded that Kawas had doctored images in several research papers she authored or co-authored while at Washington State University, the company said in a news release. Kawas received a Ph.D. in molecular pharmacology from the university in 2011.

Mark Litton will serve as CEO of Athira. Litton, formerly the company’s chief operating officer, has been interim CEO since June.

The company had previously announced that its lead candidate ATH-1017 demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in a Phase 1a/b study. The trial used an objective measure of working memory processing speed in Alzheimer’s disease patients. An independent CRO performed the The Phase 1a/b trial and an independent auditing firm confirmed GCP compliance and data management quality of the Phase study.

Although the company’s stock is trending upward, its shares lost approximately half of their value in mid-June when Athira announced it placed Kawas on leave.

The company is also facing a smattering of shareholder rights investigations and lawsuits.

Filed Under: clinical trials, Drug Discovery, Neurological Disease
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About The Author

Brian Buntz

As the pharma and biotech editor at WTWH Media, Brian has almost two decades of experience in B2B media, with a focus on healthcare and technology. While he has long maintained a keen interest in AI, more recently Brian has made making data analysis a central focus, and is exploring tools ranging from NLP and clustering to predictive analytics.

Throughout his 18-year tenure, Brian has covered an array of life science topics, including clinical trials, medical devices, and drug discovery and development. Prior to WTWH, he held the title of content director at Informa, where he focused on topics such as connected devices, cybersecurity, AI and Industry 4.0. A dedicated decade at UBM saw Brian providing in-depth coverage of the medical device sector. Engage with Brian on LinkedIn or drop him an email at bbuntz@wtwhmedia.com.

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