Filed by newsfilecorp.com Anavex Appoints Senior Healthcare and Pharmaceutical Executives to Board of Directors NEW YORK (

Anavex Appoints Senior Healthcare and Pharmaceutical

Executives to Board of Directors

NEW YORK (May 8, 2014) Anavex Life Sciences Corp.

( Anavex or the Company ) (OTCQB: AVXL), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical

company developing novel drug candidates to treat Alzheimer's disease, other

diseases of the central nervous system (CNS) and various types of cancer, today

announced the appointment of Bernd Metzner, PhD and Elliot Favus, MD to its

board of directors. Dr. Favus and Dr. Metzner join existing directors

Christopher U. Missling, PhD and Tom Skarpelos.

"As former Head of Finance of Bayer Schering Pharma AG with

corporate CFO responsibility at other large companies, Dr. Metzner has extensive

experience from early-stage research to commercialization of innovations. His

financial acumen will be invaluable to Anavex as we work to develop novel drugs

for the treatment of unmet medical needs in a range of diseases and advance

these potential therapies through clinical development," said Christopher U.

Missling, PhD, President and Chief Executive Officer of Anavex. "The expertise

that Dr. Favus brings to Anavex is exceptionally complementary. His significant

insights into successful business models and clinical trial and

commercialization strategies, developed through in-depth analysis of healthcare

companies, are expected to be extremely beneficial. On behalf of Anavex and the

Board of Directors, I welcome both Dr. Favus and Dr. Metzner and look forward to

drawing upon their strategic, operational and clinical judgment."

Bernd Metzner, PhD is currently Chief Financial Officer of the

Doehler Group, a global producer and provider of technology-based natural

ingredients for the food and beverage industry with sales activities in more

than 130 countries. Previously, he was Chief Administration Officer and member

of the Board of Management of Bayer Schering Pharma AG, the pharmaceutical

division of $100+ billion market cap company Bayer AG. In this position, Dr.

Metzner had worldwide financial responsibility for the Bayer Pharma Group.

During his almost 10-years with Bayer AG, Dr. Metzner also held several senior

international management positions in the corporate finance organization of

Bayer AG, including Chief Financial Officer of Bayer S.p.A. Italy and heading

the coordination of the successful spin-off of Lanxess, a specialty chemicals

group. Dr. Metzner started his career at the law firm Flick Gocke Schaumburg and

has a degree in business administration from the University of Siegen. After

obtaining his doctorate, he became a chartered accountant.

Elliot Favus, MD is Chief Executive Officer of Favus

Institutional Research, a healthcare research firm serving institutional

investors. He has been a healthcare equity research analyst on Wall Street since

2006, starting at Lazard Capital Markets and subsequently at Och-Ziff Capital

Management Group. Prior to working on Wall Street, Dr. Favus was an Instructor

in medicine at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York. He attended the

University of Michigan (BA, 1996), the University of Chicago Pritzker School of

Medicine (MD, 2001) and the NYU-Bellevue Hospital Internal Medicine Residency

Program (2004). He is board-certified in Internal Medicine (2004) and has 10

years of basic science laboratory experience working on human genetics projects

at Harvard Medical School, the University of Chicago and the University of

About Anavex Life Sciences Corp.

Anavex Life Sciences Corp. (www.anavex.com) is a

clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company engaged in the development of novel

drug candidates to treat Alzheimer s disease, other CNS diseases and various

types of cancer. ANAVEX 2-73, an orally available drug candidate developed to

treat Alzheimer's disease through potential disease modification, has undergone

an initial Phase 1 human clinical trial and was well tolerated in doses up to

55mg. Results from preclinical studies indicate that ANAVEX 2-73 demonstrates

anti-amnesic and neuroprotective properties. A highly encouraging synergistic

effect has also been observed between ANAVEX 2-73 and donepezil (Aricept ). The

combined therapeutic, called ANAVEX PLUS produced up to 80% greater reversal of

memory loss in Alzheimer s disease models versus when the drugs were used

individually. Anavex is a publicly traded corporation quoted as AVXL.

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