July 1 (Reuters) - Cassava Sciences ( SAVA ) said on

Monday its board is forming a committee to direct an

investigation into two senior employees of the company, amid

probes by U.S. regulators.

The company said it was engaged with both the U.S.

Department of Justice and the U.S. Securities and Exchange

Commission on investigations into the two employees.

This comes after federal prosecutors said on Friday that

Hoau-Yan Wang, a doctor who has collaborated with Cassava,

fabricated data included in grant applications to the National

Institutes of Health on behalf of himself and an unnamed

company.

In 2021, two physicians unaffiliated with Cassava alleged

the research underpinning its Alzheimer's drug, called

simufilam, was based on manipulated and misrepresented data.

Shares of the Austin, Texas-based pharmaceutical company

fell 18.4% in premarket trading.