Aeterna adds $16.5M in follow-on
Aeterna Zentaris Inc. (TSX:AEZ; NASDAQ:AEZS) raised $16.5 million through the sale of 6.6 million units at $2.50 in a follow-on underwritten by Roth Capital Partners. Each unit comprises a share and a five-year warrant to purchase 0.45 shares, with each whole warrant exercisable at $3.45. Aeterna is conducting Phase III testing of perifosine in multiple myeloma (MM). The product is an 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). ...