--- title: "Fifth Circuit vacates class certification in Filana securities class action" url: "https://aibio.space/news/fifth-circuit-vacates-class-certification-filana-securities-class/" publisher: "aibio.space (Biotech Investor Relations News)" date: "2026-10-20" section: "Legal" tickers: "NASDAQ:FLNA" source: "https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1069530/000143774926032971/sava20261019_8k.htm" summary: "The appeals court sent the Texas case back for new class certification proceedings. A $31.25 million settlement was filed in June, and Remi Barbier and Lin" --- By the aibio.space news desk. Sources - [Filana Therapeutics 8-K, Oct 20, 2026 (SEC EDGAR)](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1069530/000143774926032971/sava20261019_8k.htm) - [Filana Therapeutics 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2026](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1069530/000143774926024752/sava20260630_10q.htm) [FLNA](https://aibio.space/companies/filana-therapeutics/) 2026-10-20 # Fifth Circuit vacates class certification in Filana securities class action Tickers [FLNA](https://aibio.space/companies/filana-therapeutics/) The appeals court sent the Texas case back for new class certification proceedings. A $31.25 million settlement was filed in June, and Remi Barbier and Lindsay Burns, named in the 10-Q, are not parties to it. ## Key facts - **Company**: Filana Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: FLNA) - **News type**: Legal - **Primary source**: [Filana Therapeutics 8-K, Oct 20, 2026 (SEC EDGAR)](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1069530/000143774926032971/sava20261019_8k.htm) *Glass office towers seen from below. CC0, via rawpixel. The picture shows the field, not the companies named.* The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has vacated the class certification order in the securities class action pending against Filana Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: [FLNA](https://aibio.space/companies/filana-therapeutics/)), the company said in an [8-K filed October 20, 2026](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1069530/000143774926032971/sava20261019_8k.htm). The ruling came on October 16, 2026 and overturns an order of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas. The 8-K says further proceedings on class certification will take place on remand and gives no timetable. The defendants are Filana and "certain named officers and employees," which the 8-K does not name. The company's [10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2026](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1069530/000143774926024752/sava20260630_10q.htm) is more specific: it names Remi Barbier and Lindsay Burns as "Non-Settling Defendants" in the Consolidated Securities Action. It calls Filana and one unnamed officer the "Settling Defendants." The Texas court dismissed claims against Nadav Friedmann, its former chief medical officer and a company director, who is now deceased, in May 2023. ## What the court said The certified class covered purchasers or acquirers of Filana securities between September 14, 2020 and October 12, 2023. The Fifth Circuit agreed in October 2025 to hear the defendants' interlocutory appeal. The 8-K says the court concluded that the Texas court misapplied the legal standard. It says the Fifth Circuit accepted the company's position that the lower court failed to evaluate evidence of market inefficiency and improperly rejected, without proper consideration, the argument that meme-stock dynamics affected the shares. The 8-K adds that the Fifth Circuit made no judgment on whether the stock traded in an efficient or inefficient market. This is the company's account, not the opinion. ## A settlement already on the table The ruling comes after Filana agreed to pay. The parties mediated from May 2025, and in December 2025 the company and one officer reached a binding term sheet. On June 18, 2026 they filed a stipulation of settlement under which the Settling Defendants will pay plaintiffs $31.25 million for releases of all claims. After June 30, 2026 the company paid that amount into escrow, where it stays restricted until the Texas court gives final approval. Barbier and Burns are not parties. The 8-K does not say how the appeal ruling affects the settlement. The complaints, first filed between August 27 and October 26, 2021, allege that statements about the Alzheimer's drug simufilam were false and misleading. They relied on Citizen Petitions to the FDA, which the FDA denied. These are allegations. A later complaint relied on a 2023 article about a purported leaked report of scientific misconduct by a collaborator. ## Other cases A separate class action filed December 13, 2024 followed the November 25, 2024 top-line results of the RETHINK-ALZ Phase 3 trial. Its amended complaint covers purchasers between October 13, 2023 and March 25, 2025 and adds officer defendants. On July 24, 2026 the court denied pending motions to dismiss without prejudice. Filana says a loss is reasonably possible but it cannot estimate the amount. Several shareholder derivative suits were filed from November 2021 against named officers and directors. On July 21, 2026 the company and all individual defendants signed a term sheet to resolve them, with corporate governance changes for four years. Government matters are mostly closed. The company paid a civil penalty of $40 million in November 2024 to settle an SEC action over its Phase 2b disclosures. On February 18, 2026 the Justice Department's Fraud Section said it had closed its inquiry. The DOJ Civil Division continues to seek information. In an anti-SLAPP suit in New York, Filana paid approximately $2.5 million in October 2025 to settle with some plaintiffs. ## The company Filana, formerly Cassava Sciences, Inc., is a clinical-stage company in Austin, Texas. All Alzheimer's trials of simufilam were discontinued in 2024, and the company now studies the drug for epilepsy linked to tuberous sclerosis complex. Its 2025 net loss was $91.0 million. Cash and cash equivalents were $82,681 thousand at June 30, 2026, against $95,502 thousand at December 31, 2025. Operations used $12,733 thousand in the six months, and management believes working capital covers at least 12 months. [Report an error](https://aibio.space/reputation/#correction) ## Companies in this story FLNA Filana Therapeutics, Inc. 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Cite as: aibio.space, "Fifth Circuit vacates class certification in Filana securities class action", 2026-10-20, https://aibio.space/news/fifth-circuit-vacates-class-certification-filana-securities-class/