Anavex Life Sciences Corp (AVXL)

[blu_1]

I've finally gotten around to checking out Biogen's drug Aducanumab. Like most drugs that have been in development to target Alzheimers , it is an antibody targeting amyloid plague. Preclinically it showed removal of amyloid in mice. Ph 2 results published Sept 1st showed it slowed cognitive decline based on MMSE and CDR-SB scores. Note - slowing decline is not as good as halting or reversing decline. 273's pooled scores showed halting of MMSE decline over 31 weeks and the 7 patients solely on 273 without donepezil showed improvement of MMSE at 31 weeks. Brain scans at 12 months for patients on the highest dose (10mg/kg of body weight) of aducanumab showed amyloid plague essentially gone. However, that high dose had elevated incidence of causing serious brain swelling. The Ph 2 aducanumab trial only enrolled prodromal and mild Alzheimers patients. Prodromal means patients that have exhibited cognition problems but have yet to develop Alzheimers. It is A LOT easier obtaining good results in an Alzheimers trial if the patients have only mild symptoms and/or just developed symptoms. Keep in mind that Anavex's Ph 2 trial enrolled patients with mild or moderate Azheimers disease, and no prodromal patients. I don't know if the Biogen trial's patients were concurrently on donepezil, like the 273 trial. If they were, they probably had more recently just gone on donepezil so maybe it was exerting much more of a positive effect for them (donepezil only helps for first 6 months or so of going on it). Also, donepezil shouldn't compete with aducanumab for receptor sites or hinder its efficacy, which seems to be the case for 273 since donepezil, like 273, is a ligand for sigma 1 and muscarinic recptors. http://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/biogen-s-aducanumab-data-impresses-media-but-not-market