Aeterna Zentaris Appoints Giuliano La Fratta as Chief Financial Officer
December 23 2021 - 4:05PM
Aeterna Zentaris Inc. (NASDAQ: AEZS) (TSX: AEZS) (“Aeterna” or the
“Company”), a specialty biopharmaceutical company developing and
commercializing a diversified portfolio of pharmaceutical and
diagnostic products, today announced the appointment of Giuliano La
Fratta as Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer. Effective
January 24th, 2022, Mr. La Fratta will be responsible for the
finance-related leadership functions, succeeding Ms. Leslie Auld,
the Company’s current Senior Vice President, Chief Financial
Officer, who will continue to focus on her financial consulting
practice.
Dr. Klaus Paulini, Chief Executive Officer of
Aeterna commented, “We are very pleased to welcome Mr. La Fratta as
our full-time Chief Financial Officer. Based on our current
strategic focus, I believe his leadership and expertise will be a
valuable asset to the Company as we build toward the future and
execute on our strategy. At the same time, we sincerely thank
Leslie for her unwavering dedication and invaluable service to our
group, and we wish her every success in her future endeavors.”
Mr. La Fratta is a senior financial professional
with over 20 years of professional experience in the
pharmaceutical, biopharma and financial services sector. During his
career, he has served in both the public and private sectors where
he has gained significant experience in leading and managing broad
financial activities, including M&A transactions, corporate
development, auditing, accounting and administrative functions.
Prior to joining Aeterna Zentaris, Mr. La Fratta served as the Vice
President of Finance at CellCarta (formerly Caprion Biosciences), a
private equity-owned specialty Clinical Research and Development
Organization laboratory with global operations headquartered in
Montreal, Canada. Prior to CellCarta, Mr. La Fratta served in
various functions at IMS Canada Health (now Iqvia) and Cato
Research. He began his career at Deloitte Touche as a Senior
Auditor for both Canadian and American companies across various
industries, including the pharmaceutical sector. Mr. La Fratta
holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Concordia University
and holds a CPA, CA designation.
“Aeterna has had a transformational year as a
company. The team has done a great job to strengthen the financial
position of the Company and to diversify Aeterna’s development
pipeline. Looking ahead, there are significant opportunities and
key markets that I believe Aeterna is poised to address. I look
forward to working with the team to capitalize on the opportunities
ahead, with the goal of building value in the near and long term,”
added Mr. La Fratta.
About Aeterna Zentaris Inc.
Aeterna Zentaris is a specialty
biopharmaceutical company developing and commercializing a
diversified portfolio of pharmaceutical and diagnostic products
focused on areas of significant unmet medical need. The Company's
lead product, macimorelin (Macrilen™), is the first and only U.S.
FDA and European Commission approved oral test indicated for the
diagnosis of adult growth hormone deficiency (AGHD). The Company is
leveraging the clinical success and compelling safety profile of
macimorelin to develop it for the diagnosis of childhood-onset
growth hormone deficiency (CGHD), an area of significant unmet
need, in collaboration with Novo Nordisk.
Aeterna Zentaris is dedicated to the development
of therapeutic assets and has recently taken steps to establish a
growing pre-clinical pipeline to potentially address unmet medical
needs across a number of indications, including neuromyelitis
optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD), Parkinson’s disease (PD),
hypoparathyroidism and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS; Lou
Gehrig's disease). Additionally, the Company is developing an oral
prophylactic bacterial vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) and
chlamydia.
For more information, please visit
www.zentaris.com and connect with the Company on Twitter, LinkedIn
and Facebook.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains statements that may
constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of U.S.
and Canadian securities legislation and regulations, and such
statements are made pursuant to the safe-harbor provision of the
U.S. Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking
statements are frequently, but not always, identified by words such
as “expects,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “intends,” “potential,”
“possible,” and similar expressions. Such statements, based as they
are on current expectations of management, inherently involve
numerous risks, uncertainties, and assumptions, known and unknown,
many of which are beyond our control. Forward-looking statements in
this press release include, but are not limited to, those relating
to the potential of Aeterna’s products and programs.
Forward-looking statements involve known and
unknown risks and uncertainties, and other factors which may cause
the actual results, performance or achievements stated herein to be
materially different from any future results, performance or
achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking
information. Such risks and uncertainties include, among others,
our products under development may not be successful or may not
support advancing the product to human clinical trials; our ability
to raise capital and obtain financing to continue our currently
planned operations; our now heavy dependence on the success of
Macrilen™ (macimorelin) and related out-licensing arrangements and
the continued availability of funds and resources to successfully
commercialize the product, including our heavy reliance on the
success of the License Agreement with Novo Nordisk; the global
instability due to the global pandemic of COVID-19, and its unknown
potential effect on our planned operations; our ability to enter
into out-licensing, development, manufacturing, marketing and
distribution agreements with other pharmaceutical companies and
keep such agreements in effect. Investors should consult our
quarterly and annual filings with the Canadian and U.S. securities
commissions for additional information on risks and uncertainties,
including those risks discussed in our Annual Report on Form 40-F
and annual information form, under the caption "Risk Factors".
Given the uncertainties and risk factors, readers are cautioned not
to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. We
disclaim any obligation to update any such factors or to publicly
announce any revisions to any of the forward-looking statements
contained herein to reflect future results, events or developments,
unless required to do so by a governmental authority or applicable
law.
No securities regulatory authority has either
approved or disapproved of the contents of this news release. The
Toronto Stock Exchange accepts no responsibility for the adequacy
or accuracy of this release.
Investor Contact:
Jenene ThomasJTC TeamT (US): +1 (833) 475-8247E:
aezs@jtcir.com
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