AEterna Zentaris terminates its agreement on cetrorelix with sanofi-aventis U.S.

Dec 18 2009

AEterna Zentaris Inc. (NASDAQ: AEZS; TSX: AEZ) (the "Company"), a global biopharmaceutical company focused on oncology and endocrine therapy, today announced the termination of its agreement with sanofi-aventis U.S. ( SNY) dated March 5, 2009 for the development, commercialization and licensing of cetrorelix in benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) for the U.S. market, following the Company's announcement last week of the results for its European Phase 3 study for cetrorelix in BPH. Termination of the agreement will be effective January 9, 2010.

Cetrorelix, a luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH) antagonist, had been the object of a Phase 3 program in BPH, a non-cancerous enlargement of the prostate which, as announced by the Company last week, did not meet its primary endpoint.

Juergen Engel, Ph.D., AEterna Zentaris President and CEO stated, "The termination of our agreement with sanofi-aventis U.S. was expected in light of last week's announcement. Our clinical development efforts will now be focused on the following late-stage compounds: in oncology, Keryx, our partner and licensee in North America, has just initiated a Phase 3 trial in multiple myeloma with perifosine, our oral PI3K/Akt inhibitor compound. We are also currently evaluating further development plans for AEZS-108, our targeted doxorubicin conjugate, after recent positive Phase 2 results in ovarian and endometrial cancer. In endocrinology, we are in the process of reactivating a Phase 3 trial with our oral ghrelin agonist, AEZS-130, as a diagnostic test for adult growth hormone deficiency."