Why This Cassava Sciences Analyst Is Dropping Coverage

The selling in Cassava Sciences, Inc. SAVA stock is continuing unabated amid the controversy surrounding its Alzheimer's study data.

The Cassava Analyst: Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Charles Duncan suspended the Neutral rating and $109 price target on Cassava shares.

The Cassava Takeaways: Without non-public records from Cassava and raw data, it will not be possible to properly diligence the allegations made by a law firm in the citizen's petition filed with the Food and Drug Administration, Duncan said in a note.

The analyst said he is opting to remain on the sidelines until there is visibility on the issues and/or verifiable information that the company has successfully operationalized the Phase 3 study of simufilam in Alzheimer's disease.

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This would include receiving approval from the FDA to conduct the study, receiving approval from institutional review boards to add investigative sites and having investigators bought into the concept of exposing patients to drug, the analyst added.

"Consistent with the underlying scientific principles that we have consistently promulgated in our thesis, we believe the data presented to date is provocative, but not yet compelling, and therefore need to be replicated in a larger longer study," Duncan said.

SAVA Price Action: Cassava shares were trading down 10.16% to $52.41 in Friday's session.