Anavex Life Sciences Corp (AVXL)

[BIOChecker4]

I’ve been saying this about management for a long time, though I mostly get shouted down for saying it.

I believe the Anavex “brand” is damaged beyond repair. Whatever merits the science may have, they are overshadowed by the perception that Anavex is basically a 3rd tier biotech company with little chance of commercial success and an unorthodox CEO (to put it kindly) who isn’t credible with top biotech investors. Missling and Anavex are essentially interchangeable thoughts, which I believe is to the detriment of shareholder value.

I believe a new name, new branding and a seasoned leadership team with Wall Street and industry credibility is needed in order to create substantially greater shareholder value. Unfortunately, I think Missling is too deeply entrenched. He’s certainly not going to resign and the board is unlikely to replace him.

It’s possible Missling can stumble his way through to an approval for Rett, in which case the company will be acquired at a premium and the whole argument will be moot, though I think it is unlikely.

I have said and will say again that Missling has done a good job getting the company onto better financial footing, getting onto Nasdaq and getting two compounds into clinical trials. However, it’s time to recognize that a different branding is needed along with a new senior leadership team with a strong track record of drug development, regulatory, business development and commercial success.