Anavex Life Sciences Corp. (AVXL:NASDAQ) announced "encouraging" long-term results from its Phase 2b/3 ATTENTION-AD trial of blarcamesine (Anavex2-73) as a treatment for early Alzheimer's disease, reported Jason Kolbert, D. Boral Capital analyst, in an April 7 research note. Anavex presented these data at the Alzheimer's Disease/Parkinson's Disease 2025 conference held earlier this month.
"Over a continuous treatment period of up to four years, blarcamesine demonstrated a significant slowing of clinical decline, suggesting sustained cognitive and functional benefits for patients," Kolbert wrote.
462% Return Potential
On the news, D. Boral Capital maintained its US$46 per share price target on Anavex, now trading at about US$8.19 per share. The difference between these prices implies a potential return of 462%.
The biopharma company remains a Buy. Its market cap is US$696 million ($696M). Its 52-week range is US$3.25−14.44 per share.
Cognitive Improvements
The Phase 2b/3 ATTENTION-AD study of blarcamesine evaluated the efficacy and safety of Anavex's blarcamesine in patients with early Alzheimer's disease. It began with a 48-week double-blind phase and moved into an open label extension phase that lasted up to 192 weeks.
Patients who received continuous blarcamesine treatment showed notable improvements in both cognitive function, as measured by the ADAS-Cog13 scale, and in activities of daily living, assessed by the ADCSADL scale.
Specifically, the trial showed that patients who started blarcamesine early and stayed on it uninterrupted fared better than the those who started it later, up to Week 192 (p=0.0165).
Favorable Safety Profile
Blarcamesine maintained a favorable profile for the duration of the trial. Most of the adverse events patients experienced were mild to moderate in severity. Dizziness was the most common side effect, but it lessened with an adjustment to the drug titration schedule. Importantly, no severe or life threatening adverse events or deaths related to blarcamesine were reported.
Given these favorable long-term efficacy and safety data, Anavex plans to meet and discuss with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration the possibility of accelerated approval of blarcamesine in this indication. In Europe, the biopharma would like to get blarcamesine on the market by 2026.
Well Cashed Up
Anavex posted a net loss in Q1/25 of US$12.1M, or US$0.14 per share, reflecting a year-over-year (YOY) increase due to higher research and development (R&D) investments, noted Kolbert. Net loss last year (Q1/24) was US$8.6M, or US$0.11 per share.
Q1/25 R&D expenses were $10.4M, up from $8.7M YOY. Q1/25 general and administrative expenses also rose YOY, to $3.1M from $2.7M.
At first quarter's end, Anavex had US$120.8M in cash, sufficient for a four-year runway.
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Disclosures for B. Doral Capital and Anavex Life Sciences Corp., April 7, 2025:
Analyst Certification
I, Jason Kolbert, certify that all of the views expressed in this research report accurately reflect my personal views about the subject security(ies) and subject company(ies). I also certify that no part of my compensation was, is, or will be, directly or indirectly, related to the specific recommendations or views expressed in this research report.
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