AVXL Anavex Life Sciences Corporation

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 that its President and Chief Executive Officer, Christopher U. Missling, PhD, will join the panel, “Industry and Advocacy Collaborations ─ Making it a Win-Win”, at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) virtual Rare Disease Day® event on Monday, March 1st at 11:35 a.m. EST. There will be a live Q&A following the panel discussion.

Rare Disease Day® takes place every year on the last day of February, with several international events extending into March. The event at the NIH is sponsored by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences and the NIH Clinical Center. Rare Disease Day® at NIH aims to raise awareness about rare diseases, challenges and research underway. The event brings together all stakeholders involved in advancing research and therapeutic development for rare diseases and includes patients, rare disease families, patient advocacy professionals, healthcare providers, academic researchers, members of the biopharmaceutical industry, and government representatives.

Rare Disease Day® at NIH will be held virtually on Monday, March 1st, 2021, from 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. EST. This year’s event will feature interactive panel discussions, rare stories through TED-style talks and more. The event is free and open to the public, including patients, patient advocates, health care providers, researchers, trainees, students, industry representatives and government employees.

Click here to register or to learn more about the event.

About Rare Disease Day® at NIH

Rare Disease Day at NIH aims to raise awareness about rare diseases, the people they affect, and NIH research collaborations underway to address scientific challenges and to advance new treatments.The goals of Rare Disease Day at NIH are to:

• Demonstrate the NIH commitment to helping people with rare diseases through research.
• Highlight NIH-supported rare diseases research and the development of diagnostics and treatments.
• Initiate a mutually beneficial dialogue among public and private researchers, patients, patient advocates and policymakers.
• Exchange the latest rare diseases information with stakeholders to advance research and therapeutic efforts.
• Put a face on rare diseases by sharing stories of patients, their families and their communities.

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), recently completed successfully a Phase 2a clinical trial for Alzheimer’s disease and 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 Relations Tel: 516-662-9461 Email: andrew@barwicki.com