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Anavex appoints Dr. Cameron Durrant executive chairman of the board

Geneva, Switzerland January 18, 2010 – Anavex Life Sciences Corp., (“ANAVEX” or the “Company”) (“ANAVEX”) (OTCBB: AVXL) today announced the appointment of Dr. Cameron Durrant as Executive Chairman of its Board of Directors.

“ANAVEX is both pleased and privileged to welcome Dr. Durrant to this position,” said Dr. Hervé de Kergrohen, CEO of ANAVEX. “Dr. Durrant is a medically trained MBA who has a unique entrepreneurial background coupled with major international pharmaceutical and small company CEO experience. His credentials add significant strength to ANAVEX and we are confident that Dr. Durrant will help guide us as we work to aggressively execute our business plan.”

Dr. Durrant will work with management and the Board on executing the pre-clinical and clinical development plans for the ANAVEX pipeline, corporate and business development, investor/public relations and prepare ANAVEX to relocate its corporate headquarters to the USA.

“This is an exciting time for ANAVEX and I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the company’s continued growth,” said Dr. Durrant. “ANAVEX’s novel SIGMACEPTOR technology platform offers great potential for both central nervous system and cancer applications. In particular, ANAVEX 2-73, the company’s lead drug candidate for Alzheimer’s disease, is about to enter Phase I clinical trials and offers hope as a novel oral disease modification agent that is believed to act at several levels, including the mitochondria.”

Dr. Durrant has held executive positions at major global pharmaceutical companies, including Merck & Co. (NYSE: MRK), GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK) and Pharmacia Corporation (now part of Pfizer, Inc.) (NYSE: PFE). Most recently, Dr. Durrant spent almost three years as Worldwide Vice President, Infectious Diseases, Global Strategic Marketing at Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ). He has also been CEO of two specialty pharmaceutical companies, PediaMed and Spherics.

Dr. Durrant was a regional winner and national finalist for Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2005. He holds a MBA from Henley Management College in Oxford, U.K., a DRCOG from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in London, U.K., a MRCGP from the Royal College of General Practitioners in London, U.K., a DipCH from the Australian Academy, Melbourne, Australia and an MB and BCh (equivalent to the American MD degree) from the Welsh National School of Medicine in Cardiff, U.K.