NEW YORK, Jan. 13, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- 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 five 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, the once-daily orally administered investigational small-molecule therapy designed to target 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, personalised 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 harmonised 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. This will allow the consortium to explore how molecular-targeted, orally available therapies can complement the AD 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 personalised 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 a progressive disease, where symptoms gradually worsen over time. Each stage of the disease presents different challenges for those living with the disease and their care partners. There is a significant unmet need for new treatment options that can slow down the progression of Alzheimer’s disease and reduce the overall burden on people affected and on society.

About Anavex Life Sciences Corp.

Anavex Life Sciences Corp. (Nasdaq: AVXL) is a publicly traded biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the development of novel therapeutics for the treatment of neurodegenerative, neurodevelopmental, and neuropsychiatric disorders, including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, schizophrenia, Rett syndrome, and other central nervous system (CNS) diseases, pain, and various types of cancer. Anavex's lead drug candidate, ANAVEX ® 2-73 ( blarcamesine ), has successfully completed a Phase 2a and a Phase 2b/3 clinical trial for Alzheimer's disease, a Phase 2 proof-of-concept study in Parkinson's disease dementia, and both a Phase 2 and a Phase 3 study in adult patients and one Phase 2/3 study in pediatric patients with Rett syndrome. ANAVEX ® 2-73 is an orally available drug candidate designed to restore cellular homeostasis by targeting SIGMAR1 and muscarinic receptors. Preclinical studies demonstrated its potential to halt and/or reverse the course of Alzheimer's disease. ANAVEX ® 2-73 also exhibited anticonvulsant, anti-amnesic, neuroprotective, and anti-depressant properties in animal models, indicating its potential to treat additional CNS disorders, including epilepsy. The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research previously awarded Anavex a research grant, which fully funded a preclinical study to develop ANAVEX ® 2-73 for the treatment of Parkinson's disease. We believe that ANAVEX ® 3-71, which targets SIGMAR1 and M1 muscarinic receptors, is a promising clinical stage drug candidate demonstrating disease-modifying activity against the major hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease in transgenic (3xTg-AD) mice, including cognitive deficits, amyloid, and tau pathologies. In preclinical trials, ANAVEX ® 3-71 has shown beneficial effects on mitochondrial dysfunction and neuroinflammation. Further information is available at www.anavex.com . You can also connect with the Company on Twitter , Facebook , Instagram , 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.

For Further Information:
Anavex Life Sciences Corp.
Research & Business Development
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Email: [email protected]

Investors:
Andrew J. Barwicki
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