NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / June 21, 2021 / Labaton Sucharow, a nationally ranked and award-winning shareholder rights law firm, is investigating potential securities violations and breach of fiduciary duty claims against Athira Pharma, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATHA).

In a brief press release late Thursday, June 17, 2021, the Alzheimers-focused biotech Athira said that the company's board had placed its president and CEO, Leen Kawas, on temporary leave. The statement said that the company was reviewing 'actions stemming from doctoral research Dr. Kawas conducted while at Washington State University.'

Formerly known as M3 Biotechnology, Athira was founded by Kawas and colleagues from Washington State University based on the research she and others did there. The healthcare news websites Stat and Endpoints both reported that scientific papers from 2011 through 2015 on which Kawas was lead author have recently been posted on PubPeers, a website where researchers flag issues in published papers. Posters on the site, and experts consulted by Stat, suggested that images in the papers could have been manipulated.

If you currently own shares and/or options of ATHA and want to receive additional information and protect your investments free of charge, please contact David J. Schwartz using the toll-free number (800) 321-0476 or via email at david@labaton.com.

About the Firm
Labaton Sucharow LLP is one of the world's leading complex litigation firms representing clients in securities, antitrust, corporate governance and shareholder rights, and consumer cybersecurity and data privacy litigation. Labaton Sucharow has been recognized for its excellence by the courts and peers, and it is consistently ranked in leading industry publications. Offices are located in New York, NY, Wilmington, DE, and Washington, D.C. More information about Labaton Sucharow is available at Labaton.com.

Contact:
David J. Schwartz
(800) 321-0476
david@labaton.com

SOURCE: Labaton Sucharow LLP

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https://www.accesswire.com/652490/ATHA-Alert--Nationally-Ranked-Shareholder-Rights-Firm-Labaton-Sucharow-is-Investigating-Athira-Pharma-Inc-NASDAQATHA-for-Potential-Securities-Violations-and-Breach-of-Fiduciary-Duty