Replies to post #293693 on Anavex Life Sciences Corp (AVXL)

[catdaddy]

You really want to know? Biogen wanted all the indications, not just MS. Anavex was not willing to to play ball with the whole enchilada at that time.

[Steady_T]

At one point I think Missling did say that Biogen had chosen to not move forward with 2-73 and MS. I think that was in response to a question. No, I do not have a link nor do I care about trying to find one.

Biogen was under no obligation to explain to Anavex why it choose to not move forward with 2-73 and MS. Missling may not know why. The company did not make any statements of expectation of future contracts with Biogen when it announced the MTA. So there was no expectation set by the company that it had to dispel when Biogen choose to not move forward.

...today announced that it has signed a material transfer agreement with Biogen (Cambridge, MA) under which Biogen will test Anavex’s lead drug candidate, ANAVEX 2-73 in an oligodendrocyte precursor cell (OPC) differentiation assay. A satisfactory result from the OPC assay study may lead to an in vivo remyelination study using a chemical demyelination model.

At the time Biogen was looking at 2-73 all testing had been in vitro with cell cultures. The research was at a preliminary stage. You assume it was an "unexplained failure". That is quite a leap to conclusion. Biogen could have had many reasons for not pursuing 2-73 for MS. Many of which may have had nothing to do with 2-73. Budgets cuts, staff changes, other research directions chosen, just to name a few. And yes, it is possible that 2-73 did not live up to Biogen's expectations.

Oh, and yes I can dismiss the fact that Biogen choose not to pursue 2-73 as a treatment for MS. At that time Anavex was just getting started in trials for 2-73 and chose to pursue other CNS diseases to get 2-73 approved. So Anavex hasn't pursued a possible indication for 2-73. They may choose to do so at a later date or never.

Either way, I'm concerned with what will happen, not what has happened in the not very recent past.

[TempePhil]

Here's why nothing materialized after signing the MTA! Guys there are infinite possibilities as to why Biogen/Ana never pursued after signing mta.

I have signed dozens of MTAs with companies. I would guess maybe one in ten goes anywhere. Why does nothing materialize after signing an MTA? Many many reasons, here are a few...

No manpower to study
Some high priority issue came up, no time to investigate
Determined it did not fit into product line
Poor decision to not pursue
Decided to partner with another company
Product not developed enough to make it worth pursuing
Manager that was interested changed his mind
Interested manager left the company
Layoffs, no resources to pursue

And the list goes on and on and on and on.

None reflect on the product being studied.
No PR is ever released as many MTAs are signed every year, going nowhere!!