Anavex Life Sciences Strengthens its Scientific Advisory Board with Distinguished Researcher for Clinical Treatment of Parkin...
November 08 2018 - 7:00AM
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,
Parkinson’s disease, Rett syndrome and other central nervous system
(CNS) diseases, today announced the appointment of Dag Aarsland,
MD, PhD to its Scientific Advisory Board. Dr Aarsland is Professor
and the Head of Department of Old Age Psychiatry at the Institute
of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King’s College
London, UK. Professor Aarsland is also consultant psychiatrist at
the Mental Health for Older Adults and Dementia, South London &
Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, where he leads the Parkinson
Spectrum Memory Clinic.
Professor Aarsland earned medical degrees from
Universities of Bochum, Germany and Oslo, Norway, with training as
a specialist in psychiatry and geriatric psychiatry. He founded and
still leads the nationally acclaimed Centre for Age-Related Disease
at Stavanger University Hospital. He completed his PhD and became
appointed Associate Professor and later Full Professor of Old Age
Psychiatry at the University in Bergen, Norway. Later he became
Professor at the University of Oslo, before becoming appointed as
Professor of Clinical dementia research at the Alzheimer’s Disease
Research Centre at the prestigious Karolinska Institute in
Stockholm, Sweden. After working in Sweden for five years he moved
to his current position at King’s College London.
Professor Aarsland developed and led the
European Consortium for dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), with more
than 25 centers across 13 European countries, with a common
database of more than 1,200 DLB patients, by far the largest DLB
sample in the world. He developed a Parkinson-spectrum Memory
Clinic focusing on Parkinson’s disease and dementia with DLB
patients. Professor Aarsland played a central role in the study and
subsequent paper that lead to the licensing of rivastigmine for
Parkinsonian dementia. Professor Aarsland has published more than
400 scientific papers and numerous books and served as an invited
speaker at frequent psychiatric and neurological international
scientific conferences.
“I am very impressed with the scientific and
clinical data of ANAVEX®2-73 so far and I am intrigued about the
potential outcome on cognition of ANAVEX®2-73 in the ongoing
Parkinson’s disease dementia Phase 2 study, since there is such a
significant unmet medical need around the globe caused by cognitive
impairment, including dementia, and behavioral changes in
Parkinson’s patients,” commented Professor Dag Aarsland, MD,
PhD.
“We are pleased to welcome Professor Dag
Aarsland to Anavex’s Scientific Advisory Board,” stated Christopher
U Missling, PhD, President and CEO of Anavex. “Professor Aarsland
brings extensive experience in Parkinson’s disease dementia to
Anavex. I am confident he will make important contributions to our
SAB and to the continued development of ANAVEX®2-73 for Parkinson’s
disease dementia.”
About Parkinson’s disease with dementia
(PDD)
Parkinson’s disease is a fairly common
neurological disorder in older adults, estimated to affect nearly 2
percent of those older than age 65. The Parkinson’s Foundation
estimates that 1 million Americans have Parkinson’s disease. It is
estimated that 50 to 80 percent of those with Parkinson’s disease
eventually experience Parkinson’s disease dementia. The brain
changes caused by Parkinson’s disease begin in a region that plays
a key role in movement. As Parkinson’s brain changes gradually
spread, they often begin to affect mental functions, including
memory and the ability to pay attention, make sound judgments and
plan the steps needed to complete a task.[1][1] Source:
www.alz.org/dementia/parkinsons-disease-symptoms
About ANAVEX®2-73
ANAVEX®2-73 activates the Sigma-1 receptor (S1R)
protein, which serves as a molecular chaperone and functional
modulator involved in restoring homeostasis. In a Phase 2a
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) study, ANAVEX®2-73 has shown dose
dependent improvement in exploratory endpoints of cognition (MMSE)
and activities of daily living (ADCS-ADL). Full genomic analysis of
ANAVEX®2-73 Phase 2a AD patients was performed. The ANAVEX®2-73
Phase 2 PDD study design includes genomic biomarkers identified in
the ANAVEX®2-73 Phase 2a AD study. Studies of ANAVEX®2-73 in a
disease modifying model of Parkinson’s disease indicates that
ANAVEX®2-73 is well tolerated, induces significant motor recovery
(p<0.05), induces neurohistological restoration (p<0.05) and
reduces microglial activation (p<0.05), a potential biomarker of
Parkinson’s disease. Behavioral patterns were completely normal,
meaning no signs of either dystonia or stereotypic behaviors were
detected in animals receiving the treatment. These studies were
funded by The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s
Research.
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, Parkinson’s disease, Rett syndrome and other
central nervous system (CNS) diseases, pain and various types of
cancer. Anavex’s lead drug candidate, ANAVEX®2-73, recently
completed a successful 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. Preclinical studies demonstrated its potential to halt
and/or reverse the course of Alzheimer’s disease. ANAVEX®2-73 also
exhibited anticonvulsant, anti-amnesic, neuroprotective and
anti-depressant properties in animal models, indicating its
potential to treat additional CNS disorders, including epilepsy.
The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research previously
awarded Anavex a research grant, which fully funded a preclinical
study to develop ANAVEX®2-73 for the treatment of Parkinson’s
disease. ANAVEX®3-71, which targets sigma-1 and M1 muscarinic
receptors, is a promising preclinical drug candidate demonstrating
disease-modifying activity against the major hallmarks of
Alzheimer’s disease in transgenic (3xTg-AD) mice, including
cognitive deficits, amyloid and tau pathologies. In preclinical
trials, ANAVEX®3-71 has shown beneficial effects on
neuroinflammation and mitochondrial dysfunction. Further
information is available at www.anavex.com. You can also connect
with the company
on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
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 DevelopmentToll-free: 1-844-689-3939Email:
info@anavex.com
Investors & Media:Scott
GordonCore IRscottg@coreir.com
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