Anavex Life Sciences Corp (AVXL)

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Looks like Biogen is studying an antibody called Opicinumab (BIIB033) in human trials currently. It targets a molecule called LINGO-1, and this blockade of LINGO-1 has been shown to result in remyelination in various animal models of CNS demyelination. They have a preclinical study published (http://m.neurology.org/content/86/16_Supplement/I10.002) and their phase I study published as well (http://nn.neurology.org/content/1/2/e18.full.pdf+html), and it looks like they are recruiting patients for phase II as well.

Another paper sums up why we might want to study the differentiation of OPCs into oligodendrocytes in MS, and why therapies might be warranted that stimulate this process in MS: "Differentiation of resident oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) leading to remyelination of denuded axons occurs regularly in early stages of MS but halts as the pathology transitions into progressive MS. Pharmacological potentiation of endogenous OPC maturation and remyelination is now recognized as a promising therapeutic approach for MS."

Therefore, it makes sense now to me why they want to do a differentiation study, and now I'm wondering if they are interested in combining 2-73 with BIIB033 for example, to see if they get an additive effect, or if they think 2-73 can create this effect on its own. Antibody therapies like BIIB033 have their own issues and challenges, so a combination might be warranted, or they are just looking to add another compound like 2-73 to their pipeline to target the same pathological process. Just my thoughts based on the limited knowledge we received from the PR.