Annovis Bio CEO Maria Maccecchini Issues Letter to Stockholders

MALVERN, Pa., May 06, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Annovis Bio, Inc. (NYSE: ANVS) (“Annovis” or the “Company”), a clinical-stage drug platform company developing novel therapies for neurodegenerative diseases, announced that Maria Maccecchini, Founder, President, and CEO of Annovis, issued a letter to stockholders providing a review of Phase II/III data from its Alzheimer’s study and sharing next steps.

Dear Friends,

The last few days have been very difficult. I received a lot of emails and phone calls that often expressed anger, uncertainty, and disappointment. Additionally, our results were questioned and criticized. This reaction not only caused a drastic drop in our share price, but, more importantly, it saddened the Annovis team. We are determined to develop a drug that treats Alzheimer’s (AD) and Parkinson’s diseases (PD) and makes the life of the afflicted people and their caretakers easier. However, every setback makes it harder to reach this goal.

At Annovis, we hold rigorous science, open communication, and transparency seriously, and it is our responsibility to conduct a clinical study in conformance with FDA guidelines and to the highest standards possible. In science, results are often less than perfect, but they pave the way for a better plan when designing and executing the next steps.

The Phase II/III study provided us with valuable information for an improved Phase III pivotal trial. First, we will prescreen patients for plasma AD biomarkers to confirm the diagnosis. Second, we will only enroll patients with early and mild Alzheimer’s (MMSE 21-28), the subpopulation which showed the highest level of improvement after buntanetap, as seen from our completed AD studies (Table 1).

Study	AD patient	# Patients	Endpoint	Duration	Drug vs Baseline	Drug vs Placebo
Phase IIa; 2021	MMSE 18-28	14	ADAS-Cog11	1 month	-4.4	-3.2
Phase II/III; 2024	MMSE 21-24	90	ADAS-Cog11	3 months	-3.3	-2.36
Phase II/III; 2024	MMSE 14-20	112	ADAS-Cog11	3 months	-0.65	1.79

Table 1. Summary of cognitive response to buntanetap at different disease stages measured in completed AD studies conducted by Annovis. The table clearly shows a strong response in patients with early AD (MMSE 18-28 and MMSE 21-24), while in moderate AD patients (MMSE 14-20), the response is obscured by high placebo effect.