Schizophrenia

NASDAQ: AVXL

Advancing groundbreaking therapies to tackle the challenges of neurodegenerative and rare conditions.

What is Schizophrenia?

Schizophrenia is a chronic mental health condition that affects thought processes, perceptions, and behavior, often causing delusions, hallucinations, and difficulties with social interaction.

On a Deeper Level

Schizophrenia is a persistent and often disabling mental illness that impacts how a person thinks, feels, and behaves. It is a chronic brain disorder characterized by episodes of psychosis and a complex, lifelong pattern of symptoms affecting multiple aspects of life. In most people with schizophrenia, the condition first appears in late adolescence or early adulthood, requiring ongoing management and support.

Signs & Symptoms

The signs and symptoms of schizophrenia vary in type and severity, often emerging differently from person to person. Key symptoms typically include:

Hallucinations and Delusions: Sensing or believing things that aren’t real (such as hearing voices or holding false, fixed beliefs).
Disorganized Thinking and Speech: Difficulty organizing thoughts, leading to jumbled or incoherent speech.
Negative Symptoms: Reduced ability to experience pleasure, social withdrawal, blunted emotions, and lack of motivation.
Cognitive Impairment: Trouble with memory, concentration, and decision-making.

Schizophrenia can affect nearly every aspect of a person’s life. Individuals may struggle with self-care and maintaining relationships, and acute phases of illness can severely disrupt their ability to distinguish reality. In addition to core symptoms, many people with schizophrenia experience mood disturbances (like anxiety or depression) and overall functional decline without effective treatment.

How many are affected by this condition?

Prevalence

Schizophrenia affects roughly 24 million people worldwide, including about 2.8 million people in the United States. While less common than some other chronic conditions, its impact is profound; the disorder’s severity and long-term course create substantial challenges for patients, families, and healthcare systems.

Insights and Data

~24 million people worldwide live with schizophrenia.
~2.8 million people in the United States are affected.
Approximately 34% of individuals with schizophrenia do not respond to current therapies.
An additional 50–60% of patients achieve only partial improvement in symptoms or experience unacceptable side effects with existing treatments.

Our Approach

ANAVEX®3-71 is an investigational small molecule with a dual mechanism of action, acting as a SIGMAR1 agonist and an M1 muscarinic receptor positive allosteric modulator. Preclinical and clinical research suggests that activation of SIGMAR1 may engage cellular stress-response pathways, including autophagy-related processes involved in maintaining cellular homeostasis, while M1 receptor modulation is being studied for its role in cognitive signaling. Together, these mechanisms are under investigation as part of Anavex’s broader research strategy in neuropsychiatric disorders.

Clinical Progress

ANAVEX®3-71, Anavex’s lead investigational compound for schizophrenia, has completed early clinical evaluation. In a placebo-controlled Phase 2 study (ANAVEX3-71-SZ-001), the compound met its primary objective of demonstrating safety and tolerability in adults with schizophrenia, with no serious or severe treatment-related adverse events reported. Exploratory analyses included assessments of neurophysiological and biomarker measures, which will help inform the design of future clinical studies as development continues.

PRECLINICAL

PHASE 1

PHASE 2

PHASE 3

ANAVEX® 3-71 (AF710B)

Currently in preclinical evaluation for neurodegenerative conditions.

Learn more

ANAVEX® 3-71-001