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Why Is Cassava Sciences (SAVA) Stock Up 10% Today?


Cassava Sciences Inc logo visible on display screen. SAVA stock

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The completion of part of an important study is pushing Cassava Sciences (NASDAQ:SAVA) stock up today. This clinical-stage biotech company has been volatile this month but has overall performed well. Now, it may have another positive catalyst approaching.

Specifically, Cassava just announced that it has completed the drug administration of an open-label study. The study centers around simufilam, the company’s leading oral drug candidate, as a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease. While definitive results have not been released yet, the market is reacting positively to the news. SAVA stock closed up by about 10% today.

What can investors expect from Cassava as it approaches the study’s completion? Let’s take an in-depth look at company’s recent progress.

What’s Happening With SAVA Stock?

News of the study’s update broke yesterday and since then, SAVA stock has been climbing steadily. While many stocks have been pushed down by the raging bear market, SAVA has demonstrated overall impressive growth, rising more than 30% over the past six months.

Now, the open-label study is poised to boost shares even more, assuming the results are positive. In a statement released yesterday, Cassava noted:

“This study was designed to evaluate long-term drug safety and to measure cognitive changes (ADAS-cog) over 12 months in approximately 200 patients with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer’s disease treated with open-label simufilam 100 mg twice daily. Simufilam is Cassava Sciences’ oral drug candidate for Alzheimer’s disease dementia.”

As noted, Cassava is still evaluating its findings. The company also notes that the clinical dataset will be examined by “outside biostatisticians with specific expertise in Alzheimer’s disease.” This measure is to ensure that the data analysis upon which the study hinges has the highest level of integrity. If these outside biostatisticians are able to produce a report before 2023, Cassava may release the results before the year’s end.

Assuming that the final results are good and outside researchers turn up no bad news, SAVA stock will likely rise again on the final update. As of now, it seems likely that the news will be good.

In its statement, Cassava also notes that it’s currently assessing simufilam as a treatment for Alzheimer’s dementia in two Phase 3 studies. Both have “received a Special Protocol Assessment (SPA) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.” Cassava’s Phase 3 program currently includes more than 750 patients.

What Comes Next?

All told, it seems as though Cassava is on the verge of an important announcement. If the study can demonstrate that simufilam is an effective treatment, SAVA stock will soar. This would be exactly what the company needs after data manipulation allegations rocked Cassava earlier this year. These allegations likely made it harder for some investors to trust the company, although InvestorPlace’s Louis Navellier has said the claims did not make SAVA any riskier.

SAVA stock’s performance since then has supported Navellier’s thesis. It hasn’t been a particularly easy year for Cassava, sure, but a treatment breakthrough could be exactly what it needs to start off 2023 on a high note.

On the date of publication, Samuel O’Brient did not hold (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.

Samuel O’Brient has been covering financial markets and analyzing economic policy for three-plus years. His areas of expertise involve electric vehicle (EV) stocks, green energy and NFTs. O’Brient loves helping everyone understand the complexities of economics. He is ranked in the top 15% of stock pickers on TipRanks.



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