Joseph Harding, a retired Washington State University researcher and co-founder of Bothell-based biotech Athira Pharma (Nasdaq: ATHA), has thrown his support behind former Athira CEO Leen Kawas in a letter published on LinkedIn.
Harding, who was also Kawas' doctoral thesis adviser, said the former Athira CEO made a mistake while a student when she manipulated images in research papers but defended her integrity and made clear she was instrumental to the success of Athira.
"I vehemently disagree with the decision of Athira's board to dismiss Leen over a misstep taken as a young graduate student almost a decade ago and something that had no bearing on her impeccable performance as Athira's CEO," Harding wrote. "The expertise and vision that Athira has lost with her dismissal, in my opinion, casts doubt on Athira's future."
Harding is the second person in two weeks to publicly question Athira's treatment of Kawas. Athira investor Richard Kayne wrote a scathing letter in late March ridiculing Athira's leadership and calling for Mark Litton's removal as CEO. Litton, who was previously Athira's chief operating officer, took over as CEO after Kawas resigned in October.
Harding wrote that Athira's ATH-1017 drug, which is aimed at treating Alzheimer's and Parkinson's dementia, has seen recent clinical success, negating the significance of Kawas' mistakes to Athira's real-world potential.
Kawas, who earned a doctorate from WSU in 2011, was placed on temporary leave last June and resigned in October after a review found she altered images in her doctoral dissertation and at least four papers she co-authored while at WSU.
Harding wrote in the letter he found out about Kawas' manipulated images in 2015, a mistake she admitted to, after which Harding and other researchers reran the experiments and reproduced the same data. Although he said he didn't know why Kawas thought altering images was acceptable, he added his "mentorship clearly failed Leen."
Harding co-founded Athira Pharma, formerly M3 Biotechnology, in 2011 with fellow WSU researcher Jay Wright and Lewis Rumpler.
Harding is a recently retired emeritus professor of neuroscience, physiology, biochemistry, pharmacology and psychology at WSU, where he became a faculty member in 1976. He was a director at Athira until 2020.
Rumpler was the original CEO before Kawas took the role in 2014. Harding wrote that the company was "static" under Rumpler, but Kawas was able to get the company moving in the right direction through fundraising and networking. He added that investors "invested in Leen as much as they invested in ATH-1017 because they knew that she would see ATH-1017's development through to a successful conclusion."
Kawas recently launched a biotech investment firm called Propel Bio Partners with Kayne. The firm has a total offering amount of $150 million. In a statement to the Business Journal, Kawas wrote:
"I greatly appreciate Dr. Harding’s kind words and the additional details and clarifications he has provided about our work together and accomplishments at Athira. I am very excited about my future with Propel Bio Partners and the opportunity it will give me to help other entrepreneurs advance technologies and therapies that can help people live healthier, happier and better lives."
