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Athira Pharma faces shareholder rights investigations

By Brian Buntz | June 21, 2021

Athira PharmaA growing number of law firms are investigating claims of securities fraud associated with Athira Pharma (NSDQ:ATHA), a clinical-stage biopharma focused on small molecules targeting neurodegeneration.

Its lead therapeutic candidate, ATH-1017, targets dementia associated with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

Law firms investigating potential securities fraud claims involving the company include the following:

  • Ademi (Milwaukee).
  • Block & Leviton (Boston).
  • Johnson Fistel (San Diego).
  • Portnoy (Los Angeles).
  • Wolf Popper (New York City).

The Bothell, Wash.–based company’s stock fell 39% on June 18 after announcing it was putting Leen Kawas, the firm’s CEO, on temporary leave.

Its share price had stabilized by mid-day trading today, edging up 1% to $11.27.

Earlier this month, Jefferies predicted that Athira shares would rise as much as 50% after FDA decided to approve the Alzheimer’s drug aducanumab from Biogen (NSDQ:BIIB).

An Athira Pharma spokesperson did not immediately reply to a request for comment regarding the securities fraud investigations.

The investigations stem from questions regarding published scientific papers that Kawas co-authored. Researchers have posted several of those questions in the online forum PubPeer, which enables scientists to provide anonymous feedback on published research.

Several scientists, including Elisabeth Bik, a microbiologist known for detecting photo manipulation in scientific papers, have identified potential issues in Bik’s doctoral research at Washington State University.

Financial analysts are uncertain whether Athira’s pipeline is associated with potentially problematic research at Washington State University.

Reviewing such questions in published scientific papers often requires accessing original laboratory results, which is difficult for experiments conducted in past years. For example, Kawas performed her doctoral research more than a decade ago.

Achira had planned to begin a Phase 2 study focusing on ATH-1017 by the end of the year.


Filed Under: Drug Discovery
Tagged With: ATH-1017, Athira Pharma, biopharma, neurodegeneration
 

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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