Scientist behind Alzheimer’s drug candidate is indicted on charges of research fraud
A neuroscientist whose work helped pave the way for an Alzheimer’s drug candidate was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of fraud.
A neuroscientist whose work helped pave the way for an Alzheimer’s drug candidate was indicted by a federal grand jury on Thursday on charges of fraud.
The indictment, announced Friday by the Justice Department, brings additional scrutiny to the work of Hoau-Yan Wang, who has had multiple studies retracted and faced an investigation by the City University of New York, his employer, that was later halted.
The charges in the indictment are related to the alleged fabrication of research images and data that Wang may have used to secure federal grants from the National Institutes of Health.
Wang, a medical professor at the City University of New York, collaborated with Cassava Sciences, a pharmaceutical company based in Austin, Texas, as it investigated an Alzheimer’s drug candidate called simufilam. He was awarded some $16 million in grants for early-stage drug development in collaboration with Cassava, according to the indictment.
The indictment charges Wang with one count of fraud against the United States, two counts of wire fraud and one count of false statements. It accuses Wang of manipulating or adding to images of Western blots, a laboratory method that researchers use to identify proteins, in order to bolster evidence and help secure grants.
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