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Anavex further strengthens Board of Directors

ATHENS, GREECE, June 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Anavex Life Sciences Corp. ("ANAVEX") (OTCBB: AVXL) today announced the appointment of David L. Tousley, CPA, MBA, to its Board of Directors. Mr. Tousley is an accomplished professional with many years of experience as a senior financial and operations executive in start-up and established pharmaceutical companies. He is currently serving as a financial consultant specializing in strategic planning and management, corporate governance and business development.

"ANAVEX is pleased that David has agreed to join our board, bringing with him a wealth of industry and financial knowledge from his background as Chief Financial Officer for numerous pharmaceutical firms," said Harvey Lalach, President of ANAVEX. "His expertise in the realm of business and finance structures in biotech and specialty pharma companies augments the skills of our already accomplished Board. We believe that David will add tremendous value as we continue to advance the company, generate new drug candidates with our SIGMACEPTOR™ Discovery Platform and rapidly advance towards Phase 1 clinical trials with our lead drug treatments for Alzheimer’s disease, epilepsy and colorectal cancer."

Mr. Tousley has over 25 years of senior-level experience in biotech, specialty pharmaceuticals and full-phase pharmaceutical companies. He has held the position of President, COO and CFO at companies including airPharma, PediaMed Pharmaceuticals, AVAX Technologies, and Pasteur, Merieux, Connaught, (known today as Sanofi-Pasteur). During his career, Mr. Tousley has led all aspects of operations, including pharmaceutical development, in both the private and public company environment. His accomplishments include the raising over $90 million in debt and equity financings and he has led key business development activities, including joint ventures, partnerships, acquisitions and divestitures in the U.S., Europe and Australia. Mr. Tousley currently serves as a director of ImmunoGenetix Therapeutics, a biotech company that is developing advanced DNA immunotherapies for HIV infection. He holds an MBA in accounting from Rutgers Graduate School of Business and a B.A. in English from Rutgers College, both in New Jersey. Mr. Tousley belongs to the New Jersey Society of Certified Public Accountants and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.