NEW YORK – January 13, 2026
Anavex Life Sciences Corp. (“Anavex” or the “Company”) (Nasdaq: AVXL) today announced its participation as a key industry partner in ACCESS-AD, a major new European initiative designed to accelerate the adoption of innovative diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) across real-world clinical settings. The multi-year program is funded by the European Commission’s Innovative Health Initiative (IHI) and unites leading academic centers, technology developers, industry innovators, and patient organizations to strengthen equitable access to timely and effective AD care.
ACCESS-AD launches at a pivotal time for Alzheimer’s disease management in Europe. Recent approvals of antibody-based disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) have expanded the treatment landscape, but health systems continue to face substantial bottlenecks in diagnosis, patient stratification, imaging capacity, and ongoing monitoring. With AD prevalence projected to exceed 19 million Europeans by 2050, scalable and accessible therapeutic options—especially those that reduce reliance on high-intensity healthcare infrastructure—are urgently needed.
Advancing Precision Medicine for Alzheimer’s Disease
As part of the consortium, blarcamesine, a once-daily orally administered investigational small-molecule therapy designed to enhance autophagy through SIGMAR1 activation—a central regulator of cellular homeostasis—will be evaluated in a clinical prediction study. Blarcamesine is being developed as a potential precision-medicine therapeutic approach aiming to restore cellular function and slow neurodegenerative processes underlying Alzheimer’s disease.
ACCESS-AD is establishing a coordinated, multimodal clinical framework that integrates advanced neuroimaging, blood-based biomarkers, digital measures, and AI-driven decision support to create streamlined patient pathways across Europe. The platform is designed to support early detection, personalized treatment choices, and safe implementation of emerging therapies.
Integrating Blarcamesine into a Europe-Wide Innovation Framework
The inclusion of blarcamesine within ACCESS-AD’s real-world research program enables the generation of predictive clinical insights using harmonized imaging, biomarker, and digital datasets. The blarcamesine study will examine patient characteristics, treatment response predictors, and real-world feasibility within both specialty and community-based clinical environments. The effort aligns with Anavex’s long-standing commitment to developing precision medicine approaches that incorporate clinical data, genomic markers, and digital endpoints, allowing the consortium to explore how molecular-targeted, orally available therapies can complement the Alzheimer’s disease treatment ecosystem.
“We are pleased that blarcamesine will be evaluated within ACCESS-AD’s innovative precision-medicine framework,” said Christopher U. Missling, PhD, President & CEO of Anavex. “This initiative represents a unique opportunity to integrate advanced biomarker data and digital tools with a therapy that is intentionally designed to be accessible, scalable, and compatible within diverse healthcare environments. We look forward to contributing to a future in which personalized care is available to all people living with Alzheimer’s disease.”
This release discusses investigational uses of an agent in development and is not intended to convey conclusions about efficacy or safety. There is no guarantee that any investigational uses of such product will successfully complete clinical development or gain health authority approval.
About Alzheimer’s Disease
Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia, accounting for 60–80% of all dementia cases worldwide. Dementia is a general term for memory loss and other cognitive abilities serious enough to interfere with daily life. Alzheimer’s disease is progressive, with symptoms that worsen over time, presenting increasing challenges for individuals and their care partners. There remains a significant unmet need for new treatment options that can slow disease progression and reduce the burden on patients, caregivers, and society.
About Anavex Life Sciences Corp.
Anavex Life Sciences Corp. (Nasdaq: AVXL) is a publicly traded biopharmaceutical company dedicated to developing novel therapeutics for neurodegenerative, neurodevelopmental, and neuropsychiatric disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, schizophrenia, Rett syndrome, and other central nervous system (CNS) disorders, pain, and certain cancers. The company’s lead candidate, ANAVEX®2-73 (blarcamesine), is an orally available drug designed to restore cellular homeostasis by targeting SIGMAR1 and muscarinic receptors, including enhancement of autophagy. Further information is available at www.anavex.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Statements in this press release that are not strictly historical are forward-looking statements based on current expectations and involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those projected. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these statements, which speak only as of the date hereof.
For Further Information
Anavex Life Sciences Corp.
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Toll-free: 1-844-689-3939
Email: info@anavex.com
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Email: andrew@barwicki.com