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All Eyes On Oppenheimer For Anavex Life Sciences Corp (NASDAQ:AVXL)

All Eyes On Oppenheimer For Anavex Life Sciences Corp (NASDAQ:AVXL)
Written by
Chris Sandburg
Published on
March 21, 2017
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For the last eighteen months, Anavex Life Sciences Corp. (NASDAQ:AVXL) has been at the the center of a great debate. From the company falling foul of an army of short sellers, to management overpaying themselves, to the science being made up, to the company's financing methods – and in particular the ongoing capital stream provided by a Lincoln Park – as being proof that a scam is abound.Across this period, here at Insider Financial, we've tried to get to the bottom of any accusations, and every time we've been able to negate them and come out in favor of Anavex and its science.Now, it seems, that the tide is turning somewhat, and that wider markets are finally turning on to this company's potential. The short pressure is lifting, and the barrage of bad press is not only letting up, but in many cases reversing.Some outlets remain behind the trend, however. Here's Fool's attempt to explain why Geron Corporation (NASDAQ:GERN) and ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ACAD) mean we should forget Anavex, and the same's including of Anaxex in a list of stocks that aren’t going to make it to 2020.Well, Anavex is about to head into the Oppenheimer 27th Annual Healthcare Conference in New York City, and we think the presentation is going to serve to attract some speculative buy volume to the stock. The data that the company is set to present is as yet unconfirmed, but we suspect it will center on the data reported as the result of a phase IIa study that hit press at the end of last year, investigating the impact of the company's lead asset (2-73) in Alzheimer's disease. This, and the same tied into Rett's, a condition for which Anavex picked up a grant that should fund (at least a large portion of) a trial that will kick off this year.So management is set to take the stage on Wednesday at 14:30, but what happens after the conference? Well, we're hoping to get some degree of insight into the time frames of study initiations throughout 2017. We expect at least two, a confirmatory Alzheimer's phase II and a same stage study in the just discussed Rett's, to kick off before the end of the third quarter (but likely far sooner) and we could be looking at data from the Rett's hitting press before the end of the year, assuming enrollment runs smoothly.We're going to be sitting in on the call to see how it changes things for the company and its shareholders near term. We don’t expect fireworks, but the above mentioned time frames, as well as a bit of speculative volume draw on the back of the Alzheimer's data, is far from unreasonable.Sure, this company is a dilution risk. And yes, the entity from which it's drawing capital over the long term – the above mentioned Lincoln Park – has had its name tarnished a little in the past by funding companies that have not worked out so great for shareholders. What markets have to realize, however, is that these entities exist to fund companies that struggle to raise cash elsewhere, and just as importantly, they have to issue this cash on terms that ensures they limit their own risk. These term generally involve acquiring discounted shares and unloading them – it's not a red flag, it's just the way these things work. The aim of the receiving management in the transaction is to minimize dilutive potential, and with the provisos in place surrounding the Anavex/Lincoln agreement, we think Missling and his team have been able to achieve this.We'd also much prefer the company to get its cash balance padded out now, ahead of the trial initiations, than it wait until the trials kick off and have to cobble together funds through toxic raises. There are a number of companies in the space trying to do exactly that right now, and it's not pretty.All eyes on Oppenheimer.We will be updating our subscribers as soon as we know more. For the latest updates on AVXL, sign up below!Disclosure: We have no position in AVXL and have not been compensated for this article.

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