stuartmiles99/iStock via Getty Images Cassava Sciences ( NASDAQ: SAVA ) has plummeted more than 40% after a Maryland grand jury indicted a company paid consultant and researcher on fraud charges. The charges against CUNY School of Medicine Professor Hoau-Yan Wang for falsifying data are regarding Cassava's Alzheimer's drug, simufilam, that Wang used to apply for NIH grants. A total of $16M was awarded to Cassava based on Wang's data, according to the indictment.
He is charged with one count of major fraud, two counts of wire fraud, and a single count of false statements. "From approximately May 2015 through approximately April 2023, Wang allegedly engaged in a scheme to fabricate and falsify scientific data in grant applications made to the NIH on behalf of himself and the biopharmaceutical company," a Justice Department news release reads. The $16M in grants was dispersed between 2017 and 2021, "part of which funded Wang's laboratory work and salary," according to the DoJ.
In March, Science magazine obtained a copy of an FDA inspection report of Wang's CUNY lab conducted in September 2022 finding that Wang used improper statistical tests and noting that university officials initially denied inspectors access to the lab, acquiescing two days later. In October 2023, the same publication reported that a CUNY committee assigned to investigate Wang's alleged scientific misconduct found that image files on his computer were manipulated , adding that CUNY officials blocked access t.