Cassava Sciences Stock Drops Over 30% After Alzheimer’s Drug Fails Study – But Retail Remains Hopeful

The drug showed no treatment benefit for patients in the study called REFOCUS-ALZ, the company said, while adding that the Alzheimer’s disease development program with Simufilam will be discontinued by the end of the second quarter of 2025.

Stocktwits Inc

Updated: Mar 27, 2025, 7:00 AM IST

Shares of Texas-based biotechnology company Cassava Sciences, Inc. (SAVA) tumbled 33% on Tuesday after the company reported that its oral drug Simufilam did not yield positive results in patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease in its second Phase 3 study.

The drug showed no treatment benefit for patients in the study called REFOCUS-ALZ, the company said.

Cassava added that it would discontinue the Alzheimer’s disease development program with Simufilam by the end of the second quarter of 2025.

REFOCUS-ALZ was discontinued on Nov. 25 last year after the company identified that a previous phase 3 study failed to yield positive results.

Cassava CEO Rick Barry acknowledged the results were "unambiguous" and added that the company was “disappointed.”

“Cassava will discontinue all efforts to develop Simufilam for Alzheimer’s disease, and we expect to phase out the program by the end of Q2 2025,” he said.

The CEO added that the company has initiated preclinical studies to gauge the potential of Simufilam in treating TSC-related epilepsy.

Company CFO Eric Schoen said the firm continues to be committed to enhancing shareholder value. “Cassava is well-capitalized with approximately $128.6 million in cash and cash equivalents as of Dec. 31, 2024,” he added.

Cassava reported a net loss of $27.60 million in the three months ended December 2024 compared to a net loss of $20.92 million in the corresponding quarter of 2023.

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment about Cassava Sciences climbed further into the ‘bullish’ territory (60/100), while message volume jumped from ‘normal’ to ‘high’ in the past 24 hours.