Mr. Michael Ward reports

AETERNA ZENTARIS ANNOUNCES APPOINTMENT OF INTERIM CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

Effective Sept. 25, 2017, Aeterna Zentaris Inc. has appointed Jeffrey Whitnell to the position of interim chief financial officer. Mr. Whitnell is an accomplished financial executive with a professional career spanning approximately 40 years in both large and small company environments, working for various organizations in the life sciences and biopharmaceutical sectors. Mr. Whitnell brings extensive background in capital markets and corporate finance transactions. Most recently, he served as vice-president, finance, and controller of Lifewatch Services Inc., a publicly traded medical device company servicing the cardiac monitoring market that was acquired by BioTelemetry Inc. in July, 2017. From April, 2010, to March, 2015, Mr. Whitnell served as chief financial officer and controller of Reliefband Medical Technologies, a private-equity-backed medical device company, and, from June, 2004, to June, 2009, Mr. Whitnell served as chief financial officer of Akorn Inc., a then publicly traded specialty pharma company that was recently acquired by Fresenius Kabi. Prior to that, Mr. Whitnell held multiple senior finance positions with various companies, including Ovation Pharmaceuticals, Medichem Life Sciences, Akzo Nobel and Motorola. He commenced his professional career as a staff auditor with Arthur Andersen & Co. Mr. Whitnell has a bachelor of science in accountancy from the University of Illinois and a master in business administration from the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business.

About Aeterna Zentaris Inc.

Aeterna Zentaris is a specialty biopharmaceutical company engaged in developing and commercializing novel pharmaceutical therapies. The company is engaged in drug development activities and in the promotion of products for others. The company recently resubmitted a new drug application (NDA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration seeking approval of Macrilen, an internally developed compound.