Anavex Life Sciences Corp (AVXL)

[sokol]

Thanks for this. Yesterday, I said I was having difficulty grasping how the placebo effect could apply to these trials as Adam F alleged. Dr. MacFarlane addresses this.

Dr. MacFarlane in the interview says:

5. Of all the battery of tests which do you think most powerful for AD, and how did Anavex 2-73 perform in that test?

The One-back test (which measures working memory, a key domain of impairment in AD) within the Cogstate battery is the most difficult test, yet showed the greatest improvement. This outcome is unlikely to have been an artefact of any placebo effect...when placebo effects occur they are typically larger for the easier tests. In addition, whilst placebo effects are common with CNS sedative drugs, they are less likely to be present in tests of drugs used to enhance cognition...individuals cannot anticipate, or 'imagine' what a better score would consist of, and are unable to produce improved results through mere 'wishful thinking.'