Anavex Life Sciences

Infobox Company
name = Anavex Life Sciences Corp.

type = Public OTCBB|AVXL
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location_city = Athens, Greece
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key_people = Harvey Lalach, President, CFO and DirectorDr. Alexandre Vamvakides, Chief Scientific Officer
industry = Biopharmaceuticals
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homepage = http://www.anavex.com
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Anavex Life Sciences Corp. an Athens-based biopharmaceutical company engaged in drug discovery and development using sigma receptor ligands to treat central nervous system (CNS) diseases and cancer.

According to a number of recent studies, these ligands have the ability to target certain CNS conditions, such as depression [Bermack JE, Debonnel G., The role of sigma receptors in depression, J Pharmacol Sci. 2005 Mar;97(3):317-36.] and Alzheimer’s disease [Tangui Maurice, Improving Alzheimer's Disease-Related Cognitive Deficits with s1 Receptor Agonists, Drug News Perspect 2002, 15(10): 617.] , as well as certain types of cancer [Wayne D. Bowen, “Sigma-2 Receptors: Regulation of Cell Growth and Implications for Cancer Diagnosis and Therapeutics” in Sigma Receptors: Chemistry, Cell Biology and Clinical Implications, eds: Rae R. Matsumoto, Wayne D. Bowen, Tsung-Ping Su, Springer, 2007, Chapter 11: 215-236] , through agonism or antagonism of sigma receptors [Matsumoto, Rae R. “Sigma Receptors: Historical Perspective and Background” in Sigma Receptors: Chemistry, Cell Biology and Clinical Implicationseds: Rae R. Matsumoto, Wayne D. Bowen, Tsung-Ping Su. New York: Springer Science, 2007.] .

Anavex’s neuroscience program targets compounds that protect and enhance the function of the CNS in order to treat conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease, epilepsy, depression and pain. The company’s oncology program targets compounds that selectively kill malignant cells to treat various types of cancer including colon, breast, prostate, lung and melanoma.

Anavex has scientific collaborations with European academic institutions, such as Université Montpellier, Université Louis Pasteur and the Institute for Biomedical Research of Athens Academy.

Program pipeline

The company’s drug development program is based around its proprietary SIGMACEPTOR™ Discovery Platform, which generates small-molecule candidates. The company currently has four patents covering various compounds in its drug discovery program.

SIGMACEPTOR-N

Anavex’s SIGMACEPTOR-N program involves the development of novel and original drug candidates that target neurological and neurodegenerative diseases.

In pre-clinical testing, Anavex’s candidates exhibited evidence of anti-amnesic, neuroprotective, anti-apoptotic, anti-oxidative, anti-convulsant, anti-depressant, anti-fatigue and anti-addictive properties.

ANAVEX 2-73 is the company’s lead drug candidate to treat Alzheimer’s disease and epilepsy. During pre-clinical trials (in-vitro and in-vivo in mice), ANAVEX 2-73 demonstrated significant neuroprotective, anti-amnesic and anti-convulsant properties. It also exhibited an excellent safety profile and therapeutic activity at very low doses. [Johann Meunier, Vanessa Villard, Julie Espallergues, Alexandre Vamvakides and Tangui Maurice, (2007). “Anti-amnesic and neuroprotective activities of ANAVEX 2-73, a new aminotetrahydrofuran derivative acting as a mixed muscarinic/sigma-1 ligands, in pharmacological and pathological models of amnesia”. Poster presentation in Neuroscience 2007, Nov. 3-7 in San Diego, Calif.]

ANAVEX 2-73 has been shown to provide protection from oxidative stress, which damages and destroys neurons and is believed to be a primary cause of Alzheimer’s disease. Research in recent years indicates that oxidative stress is a precursor to amyloid-beta plaques and tau (see also Neuro-Fibrillary Tangles), and could be a novel and appropriate therapeutic target. [Nunomura A et al (2006), J Neuropathol Exp Neurol, 65(7): 631-641]

The company's ANAVEX 1-41 drug candidate is a compound in pre-clinical development for Alzheimer’s disease and depression. Animal studies indicate that ANAVEX 1-41 prevents oxidative stress and the expression of caspase-3, an enzyme that plays a key role in programmed cell death and in the loss of cells in the hippocampus, the part of the brain that regulates learning, emotion and memory [Espallergues J., Lapalud P., Christopoulos A., Avlani V.A., Sexton P.M., Vamvakides A. and Maurice T., (2007). “Involvement of the sigma1 (s1) receptor in the antiamnesic, but not antidepressant-like, effects of the aminotetrahydrofuran derivative ANAVEX 1-41”. British Journal of Pharmacology.] .

ANAVEX 2-73 and/or ANAVEX 1-41 are scheduled to enter Phase 1 clinical trials in 2009.

SIGMACEPTOR-C

Anavex’s SIGMACEPTOR-C program involves the development of novel drug candidates targeting cancer. These compounds induced apoptosis during in-vitro and in-vivo studies in various types of cancers such as colon, prostate, breast, lung and melanoma, demonstrating evidence of pro-apoptotic and anti-metastatic action with low toxicity.

In advanced pre-clinical studies, ANAVEX 7-1037, the company’s lead drug candidate for the treatment of solid tumors, revealed anti-tumor potential without major toxic side effects. The compound has also been shown to selectively kill human cancer cells without affecting normal/healthy cells and also to suppress tumor growth in immune-deficient mouse models. [Mahaira G Louisa, Humaira Khan, Chrisiida Tsiblouli, Pantazis Panayotis, Karamitopoulou Evangelia, Vamvakides Alexandros, and Dimas Konstantinos (2007) "Anavex 7-1037, a novel small synthetic sigma ligand, induces apoptosis in human HCT116 colon cancer cells in vitro and suppression of HCT116 tumor growth in SCID mice." Poster Presentation in the 15th Euroconference on Apoptosis & 4th Training course on 'Concepts and Methods in Programmed Cell Death', October 26-31, 2007 in Portoroz, Slovenia.]

ANAVEX 7-1037 is scheduled to enter Phase 1 clinical trials in 2009.

References

External links

* [http://www.anavex.com Anavex Web Page]
* [http://www.alz.org/icad/overview.asp International Conference on Alzheimer’s Disease visit]
* [http://www.anavex.com/publications.html Neuroscience 2007 conference in San Diego, California]
* [http://www.anavex.com/private/Springer-Sigma_receptors_2007_binder.pdf Sigma receptors: chemistry, cell biology and clinical implications]

Publications

Tangui Maurice, Vanessa Villard, Johann Meunier, Emeline Keller, Fanny Malhaire, Alexandre Vamvakides. “Neuroprotective effects of activators/agonists of the sigma-1 chaperone protein against amyloid toxicity in a mouse model” ICAD (International conference on Alzheimer’s Disease) 26-31 July 2008,Chicago, USA.

Dimas K., Tsimplouli C., Anagnostopoulos A.K., Mahaira L., Iliopoulou E., Perez S., Vougas K., Tsangaris G. “The proteome profile of two cell lines and their xenografts isolated from a patient with clear cell sarcoma (soft tissue melanoma)” Cancer Genomics & Proteomics 5: 175-238 (2008).

Vanessa Villard, Johann Meunier, Alexandre Vamvakides, Tangui Maurice, (2007). “Neuroprotective activity of ANAVEX 1-41, an aminotetrahydrofuran derivative acting as a mixed muscarinic/sigma-1 ligands, against amyloid beta(25-35) peptide toxicity in mice”. Poster presentation in Neuroscience 2007, Nov. 3-7 in San Diego, Calif. http://anavex.com/publications.html

Johann Meunier, Vanessa Villard, Julie Espallergues, Alexandre Vamvakides and Tangui Maurice, (2007). “Anti-amnesic and neuroprotective activities of ANAVEX 2-73, a new aminotetrahydrofuran derivative acting as a mixed muscarinic/sigma-1 ligands, in pharmacological and pathological models of amnesia”. Poster presentation in Neuroscience 2007, Nov. 3-7 in San Diego, Calif. http://anavex.com/publications.html