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Cassava Sciences in Three Words: Disruptive Alzheimer’s Cure

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Cassava Sciences was sold by 7investing on November 26, 2024.

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Background

Cassava is a clinical stage biotech company who’s exclusively focused on one of the world’s most difficult conditions: Alzheimer’s Disease.

Alzheimer’s is a complex disease that occurs through multiple biological cascades rather than in a single event. Cassava believes that treating the disease needs to happen proactively, upstream of those cascades ever taking place.

Its Phase-3 drug candidate Simufilam is an oral pill that stabilizes the shape and function of a necessary protein in the brain called filamin A. It believes that maintaining the integrity of filamin A – and not allowing it to become altered – is a key to preventing the harmful amyloid proteins that eventually lead to Alzheimer’s.

This is a vastly different approach than Cassava’s competitors. Biogen has two commercially-approved Alzheimer’s medications – aducanumab (Aduhelm) and lecanemab (Leqembi) – which are both anti-amyloid monoclonal antibodies. Eli Lilly also has a drug candidate, donenemab, which has a similar mechanism and is in Phase 3 trials with Breakthrough Therapy designation since 2021.

All of these drugs are tasked with removing the amyloid plaque buildups of the brain. They’re more about slowing the progression of Alzheimer’s and treating its symptoms than preventing the disease from ever occurring. Nonetheless, Aduhelm and Leqembi successful approval could be a sign that the FDA is eager (or desperate) to approve a new wave of Alzheimer’s drugs. I’ve included an “Additional Context” section at the end of this report, which includes more details on the competitive landscape. However, Cassava’s simufilam is taking a completely different approach – looking to prevent Alzheimer’s in its earliest stages. The drug targets filamin A, a scaffolding protein that’s necessary for supporting the microtubules that transmit neural signals of the brain. If filamin A becomes misshaped, those microtubules can degrade – and that’s what causes patients to begin progressing into Alzheimer’s. Simufilam’s job is to restore the misshaped filamin A proteins to their normal form, proactively addressing Alzheimer’s at the earliest stage of the process.

In November 2024, Cassava's management team announced the worst-case scenario for investors. Simufilam has failed to meet its primary and secondary endpoint targets in its clinical trials and they plan to shut down the program.

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