Anavex’s stock bump on sloppy Alzheimer’s data may reflect low expectations

Despite the confusion caused by Anavex’s sloppy presentation of its Phase II/III Alzheimer’s results at CTAD, the sparse data available at the time of the meeting at least hinted at efficacy on one of the two primary endpoints. That appeared to be good enough for investors, who sent the company’s shares up 36% to $12.05 the next day for a market cap of $939.4 million.

Postmarket Thursday, Stephen Macfarlane, head of clinical services at The Dementia Center of HammondCare, presented top-line results from ANAVEX 2-73 (blarcamesine), a SIGMAR1 activator in development by Anavex Life Sciences Corp. (NASDAQ:AVXL), at the 15th Clinical Trials on Alzheimer’s Disease (CTAD)...