Cassava Appoints Angélique Bordey, PhD, to Enhance Preclinical Program in TSC

Globe and Mail

01-05-2025

As SVP, Neuroscience, Dr. Bordey will lead Cassava's ongoing research and development efforts
Dr. Bordey to direct the scientific evaluation of simufilam in TSC-related epilepsy, and potentially additional pipeline indications
AUSTIN, Texas, May 01, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cassava Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: SAVA, 'Cassava', the 'Company'), a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing novel, investigational treatments for central nervous system (CNS) disorders, today announced that Angélique Bordey, PhD, has joined the Company as Senior Vice President (SVP), Neuroscience, while continuing her tenured academic position at Yale School of Medicine on a part time basis.
Dr. Bordey will be primarily responsible for leading Cassava's research and development efforts. Her scientific expertise will guide the Company's preclinical program to evaluate simufilam as a potential treatment for TSC-related epilepsy, and potentially for additional pipeline indications. Dr. Bordey currently serves as the Vice Chair of the Department of Neurosurgery at Yale School of Medicine, where she holds the Rothberg Endowed Chair. She will limit the time devoted to those duties to allow her to perform her new role with Cassava.
'We are thrilled to have Dr. Angélique Bordey join us. Dr. Bordey will be a tremendous boost to Cassava's efforts to transform the treatment paradigm for TSC-related epilepsy. Her research, published in Neuron and Science Translational Medicine, was the cornerstone of the recently granted patent that includes the use of simufilam to treat TSC-related epilepsy. Cassava's subsequent license agreement with Yale University for that patent opens the door to explore this potential indication for simufilam. We believe that Dr. Bordey's unique neuroscience expertise can be instrumental to advancing our preclinical program and that her stature as a leader in the TSC community may allow for productive study collaborations,' said Rick Barry, President and Chief Executive Officer of Cassava.
'Through my academic research and collaboration with the TSC Alliance, I have learned that TSC-related epilepsy is among the more challenging epilepsy syndromes to manage, often requiring innovative and individualized treatment approaches. It is exciting to work directly with the Cassava team to advance the evaluation of simufilam as a potential novel treatment for this devasting rare disease. I am hopeful that simufilam's unique mechanism of action will provide a new approach to treating TSC-related epilepsy,' said Dr. Angélique Bordey, SVP, Neuroscience of Cassava.
About Angélique Bordey, PhD
Dr. Bordey is a highly respected, widely published neuroscientist and tenured professor who has dedicated her career to understanding neuronal signaling and unlocking the neurobiology of diseases such as tuberous sclerosis complex. She has been a member of the Departments of Neurosurgery and Cellular and Molecular Physiology at Yale School of Medicine for more than two decades. In her role as Vice Chair, Department of Neurosurgery at Yale School of Medicine, Dr. Bordey holds the Rothberg Endowed Chair. Over the course of Dr. Bordey's academic career, her work has resulted in more than 125 publications, significant grant support and numerous invited lectures. Dr. Bordey has mentored and supervised numerous students and postdoctoral associates, overseen numerous grants and provided consulting advice to several biopharmaceutical companies.
Dr. Bordey earned her PhD in Neuroscience at University Louis Pasteur, Strasbourg, France and completed her post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Prior to that, she earned Master's Degrees from the University Louis Pasteur in Neurophysiology and the Ecole Polytechnique de Lyon in Chemistry. Dr. Bordey completed her Bachelor's Degree in Mathematics, Physics, and Chemistry at Blaise Pascal College and her Baccalaureate at Lycée Saint Joseph, Montlucon, France.
About Cassava Sciences, Inc.
Cassava Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: SAVA), is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing novel, investigational treatments, including simufilam, for central nervous system disorders such as tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC)-related epilepsy, and potentially for additional pipeline indications. Simufilam is a proprietary, investigational oral small molecule that targets the filamin A protein. The Company is based in Austin, Texas.
For more information, please visit: https://www.CassavaSciences.com
For More Information Contact:
Investors
Sandya von der Weid
[e-mail]
Company
Eric Schoen, Chief Financial Officer
[phone]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements:
This news release contains forward-looking statements that include but are not limited to statements regarding: our plans to conduct preclinical studies of simufilam relating to seizures in TSC, the potential for simufilam as a treatment for TSC-related epilepsy and other indications, the timing of anticipated milestones, and management appointments and comments made by our employees. These statements may be identified by words such as 'anticipate', 'before,' 'believe', 'could', 'expect', 'forecast', 'intend', 'may', 'pending,' 'plan', 'possible', 'potential', 'prepares for,' 'will', and other words and terms of similar meaning.
Such statements are based on our current expectations and projections about future events. Such statements speak only as of the date of this news release and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including, but not limited to, those risks relating to the ability to efficiently discontinue the Company's Alzheimer's disease development program, the ability to advance preclinical studies related to TSC-related epilepsy, and other risks inherent in drug discovery and development or specific to Cassava Sciences, Inc., as described in the section entitled 'Risk Factors' in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024, and future reports to be filed with the SEC. The foregoing sets forth many, but not all, of the factors that could cause actual results to differ from expectations in any forward-looking statement. In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the forward-looking statements and events discussed in this news release are inherently uncertain and may not occur, and actual results could differ materially and adversely from those anticipated or implied in the forward-looking statements. Accordingly, you should not rely upon forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. Except as required by law, we disclaim any intention or responsibility for updating or revising any forward-looking statements. For further information regarding these and other risks related to our business, investors should consult our filings with the SEC, which are available on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov.
All of our pharmaceutical assets under development are investigational product candidates. They have not been approved for use in any medical indication by any regulatory authority in any jurisdiction and their safety, efficacy or other desirable attributes, if any, have not been established in any patient population. Consequently, none of our product candidates is approved or available for sale anywhere in the world.
Our clinical results from earlier-stage clinical trials may not be indicative of future results from later-stage or larger scale clinical trials and do not ensure regulatory approval. You should not place undue reliance on these statements or any scientific data we present or publish.
We are in the business of new drug discovery, development and commercialization. Our research and development activities are long, complex, costly and involve a high degree of risk. Holders of our common stock should carefully read our Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q in their entirety, including the risk factors therein. Because risk is fundamental to the process of drug discovery, development and commercialization, you are cautioned to not invest in our publicly traded securities unless you are prepared to sustain a total loss of the money you have invested.