Aeterna planning follow-on

Aeterna Zentaris Inc. (TSX:AEZ; NASDAQ:AEZS) said late Thursday it is planning a follow-on underwritten by Roth Capital Partners. Aeterna is conducting Phase III testing of perifosine in multiple myeloma (MM). The product is a alkylphosphocholine modulator of the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (PKB; Akt) and other signal transduction pathways. In May, Aeterna and Keryx Biopharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:KERX) mutually terminated a deal that gave Keryx North American rights to perifosine after the product missed the primary endpoint of median overall survival (OS) in the Phase III X-PECT trial to treat refractory metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) (see BioCentury, June 18). ...