Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C., a nationally recognized shareholder rights law firm, is investigating potential claims against Athira Pharma, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATHA) on behalf of long-term stockholders following a class action complaint that was filed against Athira on June 25, 2021 with a Class Period from September 17, 2020 to June 17, 2021. Our investigation concerns whether the board of directors of Athira have breached their fiduciary duties to the company.

On June 17, 2021, after the market closed, Athira announced that it had placed its president and Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Leen Kawas ("Kawas"), on leave pending a review of actions stemming from doctoral research she conducted while at Washington State University ("WSU").

The same day, STAT published an article stating that WSU was investigating claims that Dr. Kawas "published several papers containing altered images while she was a graduate student." These papers "are foundational to Athira’s efforts to treat Alzheimer’s" because they "established that a particular molecule affects the activity of HGF." Though Athira is developing a different molecule than the one Kawas examined in the papers at issue, her "doctoral work laid the biological groundwork that Athira continues to use in their approach to treating Alzheimer’s."

The Registration Statement was materially false and misleading and omitted to state: (1) that Kawas had published research papers containing improperly altered images while she was a graduate student; (2) that this purported research was foundational to Athira’s efforts to develop treatments for Alzheimer’s because it laid the biological groundwork that Athira was using in its approach to treating Alzheimer’s; (3) that, as a result, Athira’s intellectual property and product development for the treatment of Alzheimer’s were based on invalid research; and (4) that, as a result of the foregoing, Defendants’ positive statements about the Company’s business, operations, and prospects, were materially misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis.

If you are a long-term stockholder of Athira, have information, would like to learn more about these claims, or have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Brandon Walker or Alexandra B. Raymond by email at investigations@bespc.com, or telephone at (212) 355-4648, or by filling out this contact form. There is no cost or obligation to you.

About Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C.:

Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C. is a nationally recognized law firm with offices in New York and California. The firm represents individual and institutional investors in commercial, securities, derivative, and other complex litigation in state and federal courts across the country. For more information about the firm, please visit www.bespc.com. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.

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