What happened

Shares of Anavex Life Sciences (AVXL -0.53%) rose 12.4% in February, according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence. The clinical-stage biotech's stock closed at $10.87 in January, then rose to a high of $11.93 on Feb. 7, the day the company announced first-quarter earnings. The stock closed the month at $9.52. The stock has a 52-week low of $7.13 and a 52-week high of $15.24. The stock is up more than 6% so far this year.

So what

The company focuses on therapies to treat neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental disorders, including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and Rett syndrome, plus other central nervous system diseases. In its earnings report, company CEO Christopher Missling said the company was pleased with the progress of Anavex 2-73 (blarcamesine) in a Phase 2b/3 study to slow Alzheimer's disease. Anavex 2-73 is a small molecule activator of the s-1 receptor.

In December, the company said the drug met primary and key secondary endpoints in the study. The study looked at 509 patients for more than 48 weeks and found those treated with the therapy were 84% more likely to show improved cognition on the Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale-Cognitive subscale.

Missling said the company was close to releasing full results on the study, along with long-term studies on its therapies to treat Parkinson's disease dementia and Rett syndrome, a rare genetic neurological and developmental disorder. 

Some of the other upcoming trial updates will include the 48-week data from the OLE Phase 2 study for Anavex 2-73 to treat Parkinson's disease dementia, the enrollment completion of the Excellence Phase 2/3 pediatric clinical trial for Anavex 2-73 to treat Rett disease, the initiation of enrollment for the Phase 2/3 clinical trial for Anavex 2-73  to treat Fragile X disease, one of the most common causes of inherited intellectual disability, and the beginning of a Phase 2 clinical trial for Anavex 3-71 to treat schizophrenia.

Now what

While the news did give the stock a jolt, it didn't last because there wasn't a lot in the way of specifics for the clinical trials. Anavex doesn't have any revenue, and it lost $13 million in the quarter. The company's cash position didn't change much, as it reported it had $143.6 million at the end of the year compared to $149.2 million on Sept. 30. Over the past two years, the Food and Drug Administration approved two new Alzheimer's disease therapies, Aduhelm (Aducanumab), made by Biogen and Leqembi (lecanemab), made by Biogen and Eisai. It's hard to call the field crowded, though, as no therapy has emerged yet as being that effective.