Why Cassava Sciences Stock Is Skyrocketing Today

Shares of Cassava Sciences (NASDAQ: SAVA) were skyrocketing 29.6% higher as of 10:53 a.m. ET on Monday. The big gain came after executive chairman Rick Barry released an open letter to shareholders, employees, principal investigators, and patients.

Barry was appointed as Cassava's executive chairman on July 17, 2024. He has served on the biopharmaceutical company's board of directors since June 2021. Barry is leading Cassava as it searches for a new CEO following former CEO Remi Barbier's resignation last week.

Why did investors like what Cassava's new executive chairman said?

Perhaps more than anything, investors liked Barry's optimistic yet candid tone in his open letter. He acknowledged skepticism about the company but emphasized Cassava's positive phase 2 results for its experimental Alzheimer's disease drug simufilam.

Importantly, Barry said Cassava plans to report results from its first phase 3 study of simufilam in December 2024. He added that a larger second late-stage study should wrap up by June 2025.

Is Cassava Sciences stock a buy after its rebound?

Despite the strong gains today, Cassava Sciences' share price is still down more than 40% year to date. Is the beaten-down biotech stock a buy after its rebound? Only for aggressive investors willing to accept significant risk of loss. It's too early to know if simufilam will perform well in phase 3 studies. But, as Barry said in his open letter, "it won't be long until we find out."

Keith Speights has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy .