Anavex Life Sciences Corp (NASDAQ:AVXL) On The Verge Of A Breakout

Anavex Life Sciences Corp (NASDAQ:AVXL) has been steadily trending higher since the middle of February. Short sellers have gotten nervous as Anavex is on the verge of a breakout due to major developments going on with its treatment of Alzheimer's. With CEO Dr. Christopher Missling himself presenting on March 12 at the Advances In Alzheimer's Therapy conference in Greece, we don't blame them.At the AAT conference, Dr. Missling will be providing an update on the on-going Phase 2a trial of new exploratory Alzheimer’s drug ANAVEX 2-73. Dr. Missling will be speaking from 12:20 to 12:40 and will share the long-awaited 26-week data from part B of the Phase 2a Alzheimer's trial. We believe this data will have an enormous impact on AVXL's share price and will present a much clearer picture for investors.Last month, Anavex presented positive data of ANAVEX 2-73 in an exploratory study in a Rett syndrome model at the 2016 Epilepsy Pipeline Conference in San Francisco. Chronic oral daily dosing of ANAVEX 2-73 starting at ~5.5 weeks of age was conducted in the MECP2 Rett syndrome disease mouse model and continued through a 12‐week behavioral testing time point 60 minutes pre‐treatment during the behavioral testing. Behavioral paradigms measure different aspects of muscular coordination, balance, motor learning and muscular strengths, some of the core deficits observed in Rett syndrome.The data demonstrated dose related and significant improvements in an array of behavioral and gait paradigms in a mouse model with a MECP2-null mutation that causes neurological symptoms that mimic Rett syndrome. Dr. Steven Kaminsky said, "There is a tremendous need for therapeutic solutions for the individuals living with Rett syndrome and their families, and we are very encouraged by the data we have seen with ANAVEX 2-73."Overall, the results showed that administration of ANAVEX 2-73 results in both significant and dose related improvements in an array of behavioral paradigms in the MECP2 HET Rett syndrome disease model. Taken together, these behavioral paradigms measure different aspects of muscular coordination, balance, motor learning and muscular strengths, some of the core deficits observed in Rett syndrome. Coupled with positive human safety and cognition data, as well as preclinical anti-seizure and anti-anxiety data, ANAVEX 2-73 might be a potential drug candidate to investigate in Rett syndrome. Dr. Missling said:

“The positive preclinical signal in Rett syndrome seems to support the upstream mechanism of action of ANAVEX 2-73 with the potential to target not only neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, but also neurodevelopmental rare diseases like Rett syndrome."

ANAVEX 2-73 and ANAVEX PLUS, the combination of ANAVEX 2-73 and donepezil (Aricept), are currently in a Phase 2a clinical trial for Alzheimer’s disease. The drug combination ANAVEX PLUS produced up to 80% greater reversal of memory loss in Alzheimer’s disease models versus when the drugs were used individually. ANAVEX 2-73 is an orally available drug candidate that targets 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 convulsive epileptic animal models, indicating its potential to treat additional CNS disorders, including epilepsy and others.The Michael J. Fox Foundation (MJFF) 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.ANAVEX 2-73 is the most promising drug being developed right now for Alzheimer’s. ANAVEX 2-73 is based on oxidation and nitration causing Alzheimer’s. Other drug companies have instead focused on the cause being amyloid. They have misdiagnosed the cause while we believe Anavex has the correct approach. We will be updating Insider Financial as soon as we know more. For continuing coverage on AVXL and our other hot stock picks, sign up for our free newsletter today and get our next hot stock pick!Disclosure: We have no position in AVXL and have not been compensated for this article.