CHARLESTON, S.C., March 05, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aeterna Zentaris Inc. (NASDAQ:AEZS) (TSX:AEZS) today announced the appointment of James Clavijo as Chief Financial Officer effective March 5, 2018. Mr. Clavijo joins Aeterna Zentaris from Tri-Source Pharma, where he most recently served as Chief Financial Officer. Tri-Source is a pharmaceutical company focused on procuring pharmaceutical products facing supply issues and supplying pharmaceutical products to veterinary markets.

“We are pleased to welcome James Clavijo to our leadership team. He brings tremendous financial acumen acquired in the pharmaceutical, healthcare and manufacturing sectors,” said Michael V. Ward, Chief Executive Officer of Aeterna Zentaris. “We believe Mr. Clavijo will be a great asset to our business at this pivotal time in our lifecycle.”

Prior to serving as Chief Financial Officer of Tri-Source Pharma, Mr. Clavijo also served for seven years as founder of Capital View Partners, a consulting firm providing Chief Financial Officer services, and for five years as the Chief Accounting Officer at Soligenix, a public biopharmaceutical company.

“I am looking forward to joining Aeterna Zentaris and am eager to work with our leadership team to continue building upon its value creation by expanding the out-licensing of Macrilen™ (macimorelin),” said James Clavijo.

Mr. Clavijo received a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from the University of Florida, a bachelor’s degree in Accounting from the University of Nebraska, and a master’s degree in Accounting from Florida International University.

About Aeterna Zentaris

Aeterna Zentaris Inc. is a specialty biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing, principally through out-licensing arrangements, Macrilen™ (macimorelin), an orally available ghrelin agonist, to be used in the diagnosis of patients with adult growth hormone deficiency (AGHD). On January 17, 2018 Aeterna Zentaris announced that that it had, through a wholly-owned subsidiary, entered into a license and assignment agreement with a wholly-owned subsidiary of Strongbridge Biopharma plc to carry out development, manufacturing, registration and commercialization of Macrilen™ (macimorelin) in the United States and Canada. On December 20, 2017 the Company announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted marketing approval for Macrilen™ (macimorelin). On November 27, 2017 Aeterna Zentaris announced that the Marketing Authorization Application (MAA) for the use of Macrilen™ (macimorelin) for the evaluation of AGHD was accepted by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for regulatory review. For more information, visit www.aezsinc.com.