Anavex Life Sciences Jumps 28% After Promising Results From Parkinson's Trial

Shares of micro cap biopharmaceutical company Anavex Life Sciences Corp. AVXL traded up more than 28 percent on Thursday, following the announcement of promising preclinical data (from a Phase 2a clinical trial) for ANAVEX 2-73 in Parkinson's disease.

The product candidate a sigma-1 receptor agonist, showed success in restoring function in a classic animal model of Parkinson’s disease, causing considerable improvements on all three endpoints: behavioral, histopathological, and neuroinflammatory.

Related Link: Cynapsus Therapeutics Developing New Parkinson's Treatment That Won't Require Injection

“This initial data is encouraging, and together with already available clinical safety and tolerability data on ANAVEX 2-73, might accelerate the exploration of ANAVEX 2-73 as a potential therapeutic intervention in Parkinson’s disease,” President and CEO Christopher U. Missling, PhD explained.

The main authors of the study, Veronica Francardo, PhD, and Angela Cenci, PhD, added, “We are in the fortunate situation that safety and tolerability of this compound have already been proven in human subjects, and that preliminary indications of a cognitive benefit have been obtained in a Phase 2a clinical trial for Alzheimer’s disease.”

Shares traded recently at $3.31.