Preclinical data in neuroblastoma for perifosine to be presented at AACR 2010 Meeting

Apr 21 2010

Aeterna Zentaris Inc. (NASDAQ: AEZS, TSX: AEZ) (the "Company"), a late-stage drug development company specialized in oncology and endocrine therapy, today announced that preclinical data in neuroblastoma for perifosine, the Company's novel, potentially first-in-class, oral anti-cancer agent that inhibits Akt activation in the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) pathway, will be presented at the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), currently being held at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC.

The following poster will be presented in Exhibit Hall A-C on Wednesday, April 21, 2010, from 8:00am-11:00am:

Abstract # 5248

Presentation "Neuroblastoma tumors with different ALK mutations Title: are sensitive to Perifosine" Poster Section: 16 Poster Board Number: 2 Author Block: Zhijie Li, Carol J. Thiele Cell & Molecular Biology Section POB/NCI/NIH, Bethesda, MD

Data demonstrating that single agent perifosine targets activation of Akt in neuroblastoma cells and xenografts, significantly inhibited tumor growth in vivo and improved the survival of mice bearing neuroblastoma tumors, was originally presented at the 2009 AACR annual meeting by the same group from the Pediatric Oncology Branch of the National Institute of Health.

A Phase 1 trial exploring the safety and efficacy of single agent perifosine in patients with pediatric tumors, including neuroblastoma, is currently being conducted by Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

A copy of the above abstract is currently available and can be viewed on-line through the AACR 2010 Meeting website at: http://www.aacr.org/home/scientists/meetings--workshops/aacr-101st-annual-meeting-2010/abstracts.aspx.

Perifosine is currently in Phase 3 clinical development for refractory advanced colorectal cancer and multiple myeloma, both of these Phase 3 programs being conducted under Special Protocol Assessment (SPA) agreements with the FDA, and in Phase 1 and 2 clinical development for several other tumor types. Keryx Biopharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq: KERX) Aeterna Zentaris' partner and licensee for perifosine in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Aeterna Zentaris has also out-licensed perifosine to Handok in South Korea while retaining rights for the rest of the world.