Anavex Life Sciences Appoints Former FDA Officer as Senior Vice President of Regulatory Affairs

NEW YORK, May 01, 2017 -- 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 diseases including Alzheimer’s disease, other central nervous system (CNS) diseases, pain and various types of cancer, today announced the appointment of Emmanuel O. Fadiran, RPh, PhD, as Senior Vice President of Regulatory Affairs. Dr. Fadiran has 24 years of regulatory experience within the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), having held leadership positions at the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER).

“Dr. Fadiran has an accomplished track record of working within the FDA,” said Christopher U. Missling, PhD, President and Chief Executive Officer of Anavex. “His depth of experience makes him an excellent choice to manage the considerable number of regulatory filings that Anavex has planned.”

Prior to joining Anavex, Dr. Fadiran served as a Clinical Pharmacology Team Leader at the FDA’s CDER. During his 24-year (1993-2017) tenure at the FDA, Dr. Fadiran reviewed hundreds of New Drug Applications (NDAs), supplemental New Drug Applications (sNDAs), Biologics License Application (BLAs), Abbreviated New Drug Applications (ANDAs) and Investigational New Drug applications (INDs) for approval and made strategic recommendations for the development of several products across many therapeutic categories.  He was on review teams for several novel therapies including first-in-class approvals. Dr. Fadiran also led a cross-disciplinary NDA review team and authored the first Cross-Discipline Team Leader (CDTL) review for the Division of the Pulmonary and Allergy Products, Office of Drug Evaluation II, CDER. He was actively involved in the writing, internal/external training and implementation of the U.S. FDA Guidance for Industry for population pharmacokinetics.

“I am very pleased to be joining Anavex at this important and exciting time for the company,” stated Dr. Fadiran. “There are tremendous opportunities ahead, and I look forward to working with the Anavex team to deliver on the corporate objectives for 2017 and beyond.”

Dr. Fadiran has been involved in the formulation of significant strategic FDA regulatory initiatives including serving as a member of the Senior Management Teams for the Data Standard (Janus) and Sentinel Initiatives. He was an active member of the FDA Senior Science Council working group for the creation and launching of the FDA’s Strategic Plan for Regulatory Science in 2012. Recently, he has played an active role in the development of the Comprehensive in vitro Proarrhythmia Assay (CiPA) for future replacement of the thorough QT studies. As a long-term member of the FDA Institutional Review Board (IRB), he actively contributed to the development of standard operating procedures (SOP) for the committee.

Dr. Fadiran holds a BS (Pharmacy) and MS from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria and a PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK.  Dr. Fadiran is a recipient of the prestigious Fogarty International Fellowship of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) (1991-1993) as well as numerous awards from the FDA, among them the Commissioner’s Award of Excellence, in recognition of his outstanding contributions to regulatory review of applications and development of regulatory guidance and policies.

About Anavex Life Sciences Corp.
Anavex Life Sciences Corp. (Nasdaq:AVXL) is a publicly traded biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the development of differentiated therapeutics for the treatment of neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental diseases including Alzheimer’s disease, other central nervous system (CNS) diseases, pain and various types of cancer. Anavex’s lead drug candidate, ANAVEX 2-73, recently successfully completed a Phase 2a clinical trial for Alzheimer’s disease. ANAVEX 2-73 is an orally available drug candidate that restores cellular homeostasis by targeting sigma-1 and muscarinic receptors and successfully completed Phase 1. Preclinical studies demonstrated its potential to halt and/or reverse the course of Alzheimer’s disease. ANAVEX 2-73 has also exhibited anticonvulsant, anti-amnesic, neuroprotective and anti-depressant properties in animal models, indicating its potential to treat additional CNS disorders, including epilepsy and others. The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research has awarded Anavex a research grant to develop ANAVEX 2-73 for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease to fully fund a preclinical study, which could justify moving ANAVEX 2-73 into a Parkinson’s disease clinical trial. ANAVEX 3-71, also targeting sigma-1 and M1 muscarinic receptors, is a promising preclinical drug candidate demonstrating disease modifications against the major Alzheimer’s hallmarks in transgenic (3xTg-AD) mice, including cognitive deficits, amyloid and tau pathologies, and also with beneficial effects on neuroinflammation and mitochondrial dysfunctions. Further information is available at www.anavex.com. You can also connect with the company on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

Forward-Looking Statements
Statements in this press release that are not strictly historical in nature are forward-looking statements. These statements are only predictions based on current information and expectations and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual events or results may differ materially from those projected in any of such statements due to various factors, including the risks set forth in the Company’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. All forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement and Anavex Life Sciences Corp. undertakes no obligation to revise or update this press release to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof.

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Anavex Life Sciences Corp.
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