Anavex Life Sciences Corp. (NASDAQ:AVXL) saw its stock advance 5% after releasing positive topline data from a Phase 2 study evaluating ANAVEX®3-71 in adults with schizophrenia who were already receiving stable antipsychotic treatment.
The biopharmaceutical company said the trial reached its primary endpoint, showing that ANAVEX®3-71 was both safe and well-tolerated. No serious treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) or severe TEAEs were observed across either portion of the study, and the safety outcomes were in line with earlier trials conducted in healthy volunteers.
In addition to safety, the trial produced encouraging signals in secondary and exploratory measures, including favorable trends in objective electroencephalography (EEG) and event-related potential (ERP) biomarkers linked to schizophrenia.
The company also reported a reduction in glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) — a marker of neuroinflammation — among patients receiving ANAVEX®3-71 compared to placebo. This finding hints at a possible disease-modifying effect that could become more evident with longer treatment exposure.
“We believe we are well-positioned to advance a competitive candidate into future studies aimed at addressing the ongoing and unmet medical needs of individuals living with schizophrenia and neurodegenerative diseases,” said Juan Carlos Lopez-Talavera, MD, PhD, Head of Research and Development at Anavex.
ANAVEX®3-71 acts as a dual SIGMAR1 receptor agonist and M1 positive allosteric modulator. The company noted that this mechanism may allow it to address all major symptom domains of schizophrenia while avoiding many of the side effects tied to traditional antipsychotics.
Anavex Life Sciences stock price
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