Anavex Life Sciences Appoints Former FDA Officer as Senior Vice President for Nonclinical Development
May 05 2021 - 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 disorders including Alzheimer’s disease,
Parkinson’s disease, Rett syndrome and other central nervous system
(CNS) diseases, today announced the appointment of Dr. Adebayo
(Bayo) Laniyonu, as Senior Vice President for Nonclinical
Development. Dr. Laniyonu has over 24 years’ experience with the US
Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
“Dr. Laniyonu has an accomplished track record
of working within the FDA,” said Christopher U. Missling, PhD,
President and Chief Executive Officer of Anavex. “His depth of
experience makes him an excellent choice to provide objective
perspective and manage the continuous nonclinical projects at
Anavex.”
Prior to joining Anavex, Dr. Laniyonu served as
Supervisory Pharmacologist/Toxicologist at the FDA Center for Drug
Evaluation and Research (CDER). He has reviewed hundreds of NDAs,
BLAs (including first in class), sNDAs, ANDAs and INDs and provided
high impact regulatory and strategic recommendations to the
Sponsors of these products. He organized, chaired and presented at
FDA workshops and at scientific sessions of professional societies
where he presented on FDA current thinking on regulatory issues, he
has also presented at FDA Advisory Committee meetings. His review
and Supervisory experience span several therapeutics areas
including Rare Diseases and Medical Genetics, hematology, Medical
Imaging, Radiation Medicine and Medical Counter Measures products.
Dr. Laniyonu played pivotal roles in the development of several FDA
regulatory guidance documents.
“I am very pleased to be joining Anavex at this
important and exciting time for the company,” stated Dr. Laniyonu.
“Anavex deep scientific base, innovative and novel approaches to
discovery, including use of precision medicine and molecular
biology to target a breath of rare diseases, and challenging
therapeutic areas such as Rett syndrome, Parkinson’s disease,
Parkinson’s disease dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, and other CNS
diseases is exciting given the unmet medical needs or orphan nature
of some of these diseases. I believe there are tremendous
opportunities ahead, and I look forward to working with the Anavex
team to deliver on the corporate objectives for 2021 and
beyond.”
Dr. Laniyonu holds a PhD in Pharmacology from
the University of Glasgow, UK where he was a Commonwealth Scholar.
He was also a Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Post-Doctoral Fellow. Dr.
Laniyonu was a recipient of many FDA distinguished awards including
Department of Health and Human Services Secretary’s Award for
Distinguished Service, FDA Award of Merit, FDA Outstanding Service
Award, FDA Group Recognition Award, CDER Excellence in
Communication Award, CDER Excellence in Mentoring Award.
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 disorders 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 (blarcamesine),
completed successfully a Phase 2a clinical trials for Alzheimer’s
disease and recently a Phase 2 proof-of-concept study in
Parkinson’s disease dementia and a Phase 2 study in adult patients
with Rett syndrome. 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
muscarinic receptors, is a promising clinical stage 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
mitochondrial dysfunction and neuroinflammation. 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:Andrew J.
BarwickiInvestor RelationsTel: 516-662-9461Email:
andrew@barwicki.com
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