Aeterna Zentaris Announces Results of its Novel Orally Active Anticancer Erk Inhibitor at the American Chemical Society National Meeting

Aeterna Zentaris Inc. AEZS today announced that a poster on its novel orally active anticancer Erk inhibitor, which includes AEZS-131, was presented at the 242nd American Chemical Society National Meeting held at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, Colorado. The poster was presented by Matthias Gerlach, Ph.D., Senior Director of Medicinal Chemistry for Aeterna Zentaris Inc. Focus on inhibition of downstream kinase Erk 1/2 activity as a therapeutic target is attractive because the pharmacologic inhibition of Erk 1/2 reverses the activation of the Ras-Raf-Mek-Erk signal transduction pathway through many common deregulated molecular lesions in cancer. This pathway controls a number of fundamental cellular processes including cell survival, proliferation, motility and differentiation. It is constitutively activated in cancers of the lung, colon, pancreas, kidney, and ovary. Erk is pivotal in the pathway downstream of Ras, Raf and Mek, acting as central point where multiple signaling pathways coalesce to drive transcription.