Billionaire Athira backer closely tied to ousted CEO Leen Kawas launches an attack, demands new chief
The billionaire backer behind the troubled Alzheimer’s startup Athira Pharma — and a close associate of ousted CEO Leen Kawas — is making a very public bid to purge the new CEO and put himself on the board alongside ex-Novartis CFO George Bickerstaff.
In a lengthy letter released Wednesday morning, Richard “Ric” Kayne harshly criticized CEO Mark Litton, who stepped in as CEO after Kawas exited when the board concluded that she had manipulated images used in her doctoral thesis and other papers that were at the center of Athira’s approach to treating Alzheimer’s. But later on Wednesday, Athira’s board blasted back, defending themselves and noting that Kayne had pushed to get Kawas back into the company.
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