Anavex Life Sciences Corp. announced the addition and appointment of new senior team members with a track record of successfully bringing drugs to market. Reinforcing the Company?s commitment to drive value-creation through operational efficiencies and innovation in the industry, Anavex announced new additions to its leadership team with the appointment of Juan Carlos Lopez-Talavera, MD, PhD as Senior Vice President, Head of Research and Development and Terrie Kellmeyer, PhD as Senior Vice President of Clinical Development.

Dr. Lopez-Talavera joins the Company with over two decades of key leadership roles in managing registrational clinical trials and patient engagement for approved therapeutics and led and contributed to the development and approvals of several treatments in the USA, Europe, and Asia, including COPEGUS® (ribavarin), YERVOY® (ipilimumab), ELIQUIS® (apixaban), OPDIVO® (nivolumab), VIEKIRA PAK® (ombitasvir, paritaprevir, ritonavir), and OCALIVA® (obeticholic acid). Prior to Anavex Dr. Lopez-Talavera held key leadership positions at Fractyl Health, Intercept Pharmaceuticals, AbbVie, Bristol Myers Squibb and Roche. Prior to entering the bio-pharmaceutical industry, Dr. Lopez-Talavera was Assistant Professor at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and postdoctoral fellow at Yale University and earned his PhD working with Nobel Prize laureates Sir Michael Houghton, PhD and Harvey Alter, MD on the discovery of the hepatitis C virus (HCV).

Dr. Kellmeyer brings over 28 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry and has held executive leadership positions in Clinical Development, Regulatory Affairs, Clinical Operations, and Medical Affairs across multiple therapeutic areas. Dr. Kellmeyer has played a key role in overall regulatory strategy and has led and contributed to the submission of multiple successful New Drug Applications to the FDA and Marketing Authorization Applications to the European Medicines Agency (EMA), among them OLPRUVA® (sodium phenylbutyrate), REZDIFFRA® (resmetirom), BYETTA® (exenatide injection), SYMLIN® (pramlintide acetate), and OCALIVA® (obeticholic acid). Prior to joining Anavex Dr. Kellmeyer held strategic leadership positions, including Head of Global Regulatory Affairs at Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, and positions of increasing responsibility at Intercept Pharmaceuticals, Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Gen-Probe, and most recently as Group Vice President of Clinical Development at Acer Therapeutics.

Dr. Kellmeyer received her BS degree in Biotechnology from Rochester Institute of Technology, a PhD in Molecular Biology from SUNY Syracuse, and did a Post-Doctoral Fellowship at the University of Rochester.