PALO ALTO, CA, Feb. 14, 2012 /PRNewswire/ - Anavex Life Sciences Corp. ("Anavex") (OTCBB: AVXL) today announced that Dr. George F. Tidmarsh, MD, PhD, Executive Director, is scheduled to present a corporate update at the BIO CEO & Investor Conference in New York. Dr. Tidmarsh's presentation will be webcast live and takes place on Tuesday, February 14, 2012, at 3:30 p.m. ET at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City.

Dr. Tidmarsh plans to provide an update on the company's corporate strategy and progress in the clinical development of ANAVEX 2-73 for the treatment of Alzheimer's Disease (AD), which has successfully completed a Phase 1a clinical trial. Data published by world-renowned Alzheimer's Disease scientists shows that ANAVEZ 2-73 exhibits neuroprotective activity and reverses symptoms of AD in mouse models of the disease.  Phase 1a clinical data indicates that ANAVEX 2-73 is well tolerated with no dose-limiting toxicities unrelated to the drug's mechanism of action. ANAVEX 2-73 is the first of a new class of oral drugs being studied to potentially treat Alzheimer's through disease modification rather than symptomatic improvement alone.

The Anavex presentation will be webcast live at: http://www.veracast.com/webcasts/bio/ceoinvestor2012/36215125.cfm. Please register and log in approximately 10 minutes prior to the presentation to ensure a timely connection. The webcast replay will be available one hour after conclusion of the presentation and will be archived until May 14, 2012.

The BIO CEO & Investor Conference is the largest investor conference focused on established and emerging publicly traded biotech companies.

About Alzheimer's Disease

While Alzheimer's Disease is most common in people over the age of 65, it can strike adults of any age irrespective of their gender, background or socioeconomic status. According to the Alzheimer's Association, an estimated 5.4 million Americans are currently living with Alzheimer's disease. The number of Americans aged 65 and over with Alzheimer's is estimated to reach 7.7 million in 2030. This represents a 50 percent increase from the 5.2 million Americans aged 65 and older who are currently affected. The Alzheimer's Association further projects that the number of Americans aged 65 and older who are affected by Alzheimer's disease may double or triple to between 11 and 16 million by 2050 unless there are developments to prevent or more effectively treat the disease.

About Anavex Life Sciences Corp.

Anavex Life Sciences Corp. (www.anavex.com) is a specialty pharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery and development of novel drug candidates for the treatment of neurological diseases and cancer. The Anavex proprietary SIGMACEPTOR™ Discovery Platform involves the rational design of drug compounds targeted to specific receptors involved in the modulation of multiple cellular biochemical signaling pathways.

The SIGMACEPTOR™-N program involves the development of novel drug candidates that target neurological and neurodegenerative diseases (Alzheimer's disease, epilepsy, depression, pain). The company's lead drug candidates exhibit high affinity for sigma receptors, which have been extensively documented as potentially valuable drug targets and have demonstrated anti-amnesic and neuroprotective properties. A portfolio of back-up compounds to ANAVEX 2-73 are also in development.

Anavex is a publicly traded company under the symbol AVXL.

Anavex Life Sciences Corp.
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SOURCE Anavex Life Sciences Corp.