Anavex Life Sciences Corp. (“Anavex” or the “Company”)
(Nasdaq:AVXL), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company
developing differentiated therapeutics for the treatment of
neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental diseases including
Alzheimer’s disease, other central nervous system (CNS) diseases,
pain and various types of cancer, today announced the appointment
of three distinguished researchers to its Scientific Advisory
Board.
The additional SAB members include:
- Tanya Simuni, MD, is AC Nielsen Professor of Neurology and
Director, Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders Program at
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago,
Illinois
Dr. Simuni earned her Bachelor of Science and
medical degrees from Leningrad Medical School, Russia. She
completed a neurology residency and clinical neurophysiology
fellowship at Temple University, Philadelphia, and a fellowship in
movement disorders at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.
She joined the neurology faculty at Northwestern University in
2000. She has built a multidisciplinary Parkinson’s disease center
that has been designated a Center of Excellence by the National
Parkinson’s Foundation.
Dr. Simuni’s research interests include
experimental pharmacology, early diagnosis, non-motor
manifestations and surgical management of Parkinson’s disease. As
principal or co-investigator of numerous NINDS, MJFF and industry
sponsored clinical trials, Dr. Simuni has done extensive research
on the treatment of Parkinson’s disease focused on studying
potential disease modifying strategies. Dr. Simuni is the principal
investigator on the NINDS-funded, multicenter Phase III study of
the potential disease modifying agent, isradipine.
Dr. Simuni has received several prestigious
awards including the Dixon Foundation Innovation Award, National
Parkinson’s Foundation Research Awards, Northwestern Department of
Neurology Teacher of the Year Award, and the Northwestern Medical
Foundation Award for Excellence in Clinical Leadership. Dr. Simuni
dedicates substantial amount of her professional time to teaching
and mentoring, and has served as the neurology residency program
director at Northwestern.
- Daniel Weintraub, MD, Professor of Psychiatry at Perelman
School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania
Dr. Weintraub is professor of psychiatry and
neurology at Penn and psychiatrist at the Parkinson’s Disease
Research, Education and Clinical Center (PADRECC) at the
Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center. A geriatric
psychiatrist, he conducts clinical research in the psychiatric and
cognitive complications of Parkinson’s disease, and is author of
more than 100 journal articles, reviews, and book chapters.
He completed a NIMH Career Development Award
titled “Depression Diagnosis and Treatment in Parkinson Disease”,
and has been PI on grants from the VA, Penn, The Michael J. Fox
Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, and several industry-sponsored
studies, and is current Clinical Core Leader of the Penn Udall
Center focused on cognition in Parkinson’s disease.
Dr. Weintraub is Associate Editor for Movement
Disorders journal, formerly was on the Executive Committee of the
Parkinson Study Group (PSG), has been a member of four Movement
Disorder Society (MDS) task forces to revise and make
recommendations for the assessment of cognitive and psychiatric
symptoms in Parkinson’s disease, and was chair of the Psychiatry
Subgroup of the NINDS Common Data Elements (CDE) project.
- Kalpana M. Merchant, PhD, President and CSO, TransThera
Consulting Co.; Adjunct Professor of Neurology at Northwestern
University Feinberg School of Medicine and Adjunct Professor of
Biology at Indiana University Purdue University at
Indianapolis
Dr. Kalpana Merchant has deep expertise in the
neurobiology of chronic neurodegenerative and psychiatric
disorders. She has nearly 25 years of experience in drug discovery
and development with a special emphasis on translational strategies
that improve the success rate of drug development.
In March 2014, Kalpana established a life
sciences business that provides consultancy services to non-profit
institutions and start-up pharmaceutical/ biotechnology companies.
She continues to remain engaged in training and mentoring of
graduate students, postdoctoral scientists and junior faculty
through her academic positions.
Prior to her consulting activities, Kalpana
worked in the US pharmaceutical industry as a scientific
contributor and in strategic leadership/ management roles. She
retired in March 2014 from Eli Lilly and Company where she was the
Chief Scientific Officer for Tailored Therapeutics - Neuroscience,
accountable for scientific and business strategies to deliver
personalized therapies and associated biomarkers for the
neuroscience portfolio – from discovery through Phase III.
Kalpana received her PhD in neuropharmacology
from the University of Utah. Following a postdoctoral research
fellowship at University of Washington, she was appointed Assistant
Professor of Psychiatry at the same institution. She was recruited
to Eli Lilly in 2003 from Pharmacia Corp., where she had
contributed to neuroscience drug discovery research for 10
years.
Kalpana is engaged in the wider scientific
community via her service on the National Center for Advancing
Translational Sciences (NCATS) Advisory Council and the Cures
Acceleration Network Review Board for the National Institutes of
Health (NIH), as an advisor to the Michael J Fox Foundation for
Parkinson’s Research, membership of The Wellcome Trust Review Board
as well as several professional societies.
“We are pleased to welcome Drs. Tanya Simuni,
Daniel Weintraub and Kalpana Merchant to Anavex’s Scientific
Advisory Board,” stated Christopher U. Missling, PhD, President and
Chief Executive Officer of Anavex. “These world-renowned
researchers bring extensive experience in neurological diseases to
Anavex. I am confident they will make important contributions to
our SAB and to the continued development of ANAVEX 2-73 and other
compounds in our pipeline for the treatment of neurodegenerative
diseases, including Parkinson’s disease.”
About Anavex Life Sciences Corp.
Anavex Life Sciences Corp. (Nasdaq:AVXL) is a
publicly traded biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the
development of differentiated therapeutics for the treatment of
neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental diseases including
Alzheimer’s disease, other central nervous system (CNS) diseases,
pain and various types of cancer. Anavex’s lead drug candidate,
ANAVEX 2-73, is currently in a Phase 2a clinical trial for
Alzheimer’s disease. ANAVEX 2-73 is an orally available drug
candidate that restores cellular homeostasis by targeting sigma-1
and muscarinic receptors and successfully completed Phase 1 with a
clean safety profile. Preclinical studies demonstrated its
potential to halt and/or reverse the course of Alzheimer’s disease.
It has also exhibited anticonvulsant, anti-amnesic, neuroprotective
and anti-depressant properties in animal models, indicating its
potential to treat additional CNS disorders, including epilepsy and
others. The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research has
awarded Anavex a research grant to develop ANAVEX 2-73 for the
treatment of Parkinson’s disease to fully fund a preclinical study,
which could justify moving ANAVEX 2-73 into a Parkinson’s disease
clinical trial. ANAVEX 3-71, also targeting sigma-1 and M1
muscarinic receptors, is a promising preclinical drug candidate
demonstrating disease modifications against the major Alzheimer’s
hallmarks in transgenic (3xTg-AD) mice, including cognitive
deficits, amyloid and tau pathologies, and also with beneficial
effects on neuroinflammation and mitochondrial dysfunctions.
Further information is available at www.anavex.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Statements in this press release that are not
strictly historical in nature are forward-looking statements. These
statements are only predictions based on current information and
expectations and involve a number of risks and uncertainties.
Actual events or results may differ materially from those projected
in any of such statements due to various factors, including the
risks set forth in the Company’s most recent Annual Report on Form
10-K filed with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue
reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as
of the date hereof. All forward-looking statements are qualified in
their entirety by this cautionary statement and Anavex Life
Sciences Corp. undertakes no obligation to revise or update this
press release to reflect events or circumstances after the date
hereof.
For Further Information:
Anavex Life Sciences Corp.
Research & Business Development
Toll-free: 1-844-689-3939
Email: info@anavex.com
Investors:
Matthew Haines
River East Investor Relations, LLC
917-733-9297
mhaines@rivereastir.com
Media:
Dennis Dobson, Jr.
Dobson Media Group
(203) 258-0159
dennisdobsonjr@dobsonmediagroup.com
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