Playing the Long Game is the Only Game to Play - My Commentary
Oh the summer doldrums of 2015 - I remember it so well - a little more than 1.5 years ago, when I first stumbled upon AVXL by the famous old YMB poster, "ctixers", when he sailed in quietly to the foggy bay of the NVIV message board singing the song of sirens regarding Anavex.
I had just (almost) made 6 digit gains with NVIV watching it run up quickly after uplisting, only to watch it quickly fall - making me panic sell with a pittance of a gain compared to what I should have sold for. And, oh yes, was I big into NVIV back then.
But, I read about Anavex. I learned a) it WAS NOT following the beta-amyloid theory of Alzheimer's disease, b) it just started an open label trial and initial results/prelim results were spectacular - there had just been a bit of gains made and it was still in the OTC markets - cheap as anything - I bought my original shares at 39 cents and 41 cents. It took me a week to buy and boy did I buy after I started my study of their theory.
I view the brain and the body as a whole - EVERYTHING - is interconnected. The brain basically is an amalgamation of elaborate intraregional and interregional neural networks supported by the foundation of other supporting cells that keep these networks functioning optimally - kind of like how government, in theory, should keep our nation's infrastructure functioning optimally through continuous support and funding.
With aging, the healthy support system that the brain relies upon to keep the neural cortical networks functioning optimally starts breaking down. There is a trigger that occurs with aging - that starts the process of neural network decoupling. Once regional neural networks begin decoupling from each other - the eloquent whole brain communication system breaks down - the machine, so to speak, becomes just a sum of component parts - with each part decaying faster and further the longer it remains decoupled from the rest of the machine's parts.
I'm generally a contrarian in my field of expertise - epileptology. With my clinical experience, my fellow epileptologists and I see the brain a little differently than many general neurologists through the examples we see every day with our epileptic patients. I learn about so many fascinating symptoms that some patients uniquely have as their focal seizures and auras expose the mysteries of the mind. And as I grow in this field, I no longer view neurological diagnoses that do not fit within my realm of knowledge as being "non-organic" in etiology. I view Neurology and Psychiatry as being on the same spectrum - where many psychiatric disorders are merely neurological disorder that, as of yet, cannot be measured for - we do not understand the pathophysiology behind. Bottom line - the brain is an enigma and NOTHING is so simple to explain complicated neurological disorders.
With this background - I never accepted the beta-amyloid theory as the simple explanation for Alzheimers and given the decade of failures with making drugs that are based on this theory - that clearing beta amyloid plaques, etc. will improve function is a fool's errand to invest in. Yet, the powers that be, the "establishment" pharmaceutical bigwigs and their "world-renown" scientific advisors said it is so that this theory will be proven correct, despite failure after failure.
So when I saw that Anavex sees the brain as I see the brain - an eloquent amalgamation of neural networks supported by a foundation of glia and other cells that keep the networks functioning well - I BOUGHT and BOUGHT! I felt then, as I still feel now - that Anavex has tapped into the theory that chronic neuroinflammation is the cause of the breakdown of the support system and beta-amyloid is a mere byproduct of the chronic neuroinflammatory process, the waste, so to speak because the infrastructure of the brain can no longer clear the networks from accumulating junk. I then looked at Hashimoto et. al and his studies on the sigma 1 receptor, how sigma 1 receptor agonism may have neuroprotective effects.
I then made the risky investment - my thesis: sigma 1 receptor agonism allows for recoupling of the mitochondria with the endoplasmic reticulum to allow for cellular healing at the microscopic level which, in turn, will allow the brain to halt chronic neuroinflammation allowing for the macroscopic "brain healing" that can potentially halt neurodegenerative disorders in their tracks.
My thesis then, when I decided to hold most of my holdings for at least 5 years - is the same thesis that I have now.
I'm sorry about the typos, above - no time to proofread. Good luck to all the long investors who have stuck with this company over the past few years - what a ride it is!
AI
