Press release
Anavex Life Sciences Reports New Publication in Medical Journal Elucidating the Mechanism of ANAVEX®2-73 (blarcamesine) and ANAVEX®3-71 (AF710B) related to the Treatment of Alzheimer's Disease
NEW YORK, June 14, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Anavex Life Sciences Corp. (“Anavex” or the “Company”) (Nasdaq: AVXL), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company
About this update from Anavex Life Sciences Corp.
[{"type":"text","content":"NEW YORK, June 14, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Anavex Life Sciences Corp. (“Anavex” or the “Company”) (Nasdaq: AVXL), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing differentiated therapeutics for the treatment of neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental disorders including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Rett syndrome and other central nervous system (CNS) diseases, today reported that ANAVEX®2-73 (blarcamesine) and ANAVEX®3-71 (AF710B) are featured in a new peer-reviewed publication in the journal of Expert Opinion on Therapeutic Targets, titled “The emerging role of the sigma-1 receptor in autophagy: Hand-in-hand targets for the treatment of Alzheimer's”.1 Scientific Paper Highlights: Sigma-1 receptor (SIGMAR1)’s expression increases with age, however in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) it decreasesThe decrease in SIGMAR1 expression during AD coincides with an age-related decrease in autophagyThe SIGMAR1 may compensate for loss of receptors and autophagic machinery during healthy agingSIGMAR1 is activated by ANAVEX-compoundsANAVEX®2-73 has been shown to induce autophagyActivation of the SIGMAR1 can induce cytoprotective autophagic pathways The authors of the paper point out that studies using positron emission tomography (PET) have shown that in healthy aging, there is no loss of the SIGMAR1; in fact, there is a possible increase in SIGMAR1 expression2 that coincides with the age-related loss of the M1/M4 muscarinic receptors3, D1/D2 dopamine receptors4, and serotonin (5HT2A) receptors5. The increase in SIGMAR1 expression may be a compensatory mechanism for the loss of the other receptors6. However, PET scans of patients with a recent AD diagnosis show a reduction of SIGMAR1 expression7. SIGMAR1 also promotes autophagy and results in the degradation of amyloid-beta precursor protein (APP) thereby inhibiting Aβ production8. The publication explains that AD is a multifactorial disease, where several pathways interlink with each other and cause cognitive impairments. The available drugs only tend to target a single pathway and mitigate the symptoms of AD without slowing the disease progression. Combinatorial therapy has been suggested as a treatment strategy; however, the existence of drug-drug interaction is a concern. Hence, there is a need for the development of drug molecules that can target multiple pathways to halt d...