Aegerion Pharmaceuticals Observes Rare Disease Day 2011 Company Joins NORD and Other Patient Advocacy Groups in Supporting Awareness of Rare Diseases

Aegerion Pharmaceuticals, Inc.(Nasdaq:AEGR), an emerging biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of novel therapeutics to treat severe lipid disorders, announced today its alliance with the National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD) and observance of the fourth annual Rare Disease Day. NORD is coordinating this observance with the support of more than 200 patient organizations, professional societies, government agencies, medical researchers and pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to raise awareness about rare diseases.Aegerion is currently in late-stage clinical development for an orphan drug candidate,lomitapide, a small molecule, once-a-day, oral therapy to treat homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HoFH). HoFH is a rare genetic lipid disorder resulting in an accumulation of low-density lipoprotein (LDL-C), often referred to as bad cholesterol, in the blood. Patients with HoFH are at severely high risk of experiencing a heart attack or stroke in their twenties, and if untreated, patients with HoFH generally die before the age of thirty.A rare disease is one that affects fewer than 200,000 Americans. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), there are nearly 7,000 rare diseases affecting nearly 30 million Americans. Rare Disease Day was first observed in Europe in 2008. It was established by EURORDIS, the European Rare Disease Organization. In 2009, EURORDIS partnered with NORD for this initiative in the United States. For more information about Rare Disease Day, visitwww.rarediseases.org.Marc D. Beer, CEO of Aegerion, commented, "We share NORD's interest in creating awareness about rare diseases and calling attention to the frequent lack of effective diagnosis and treatment for these underserved patients. It is our ongoing mission to advance research and development and improve care for patients with rare disorders."

Aegerion Pharma sells shares to underwriters

Aegerion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. said Friday that that the underwriters of its initial public offering have used their over-allotment option to purchase an additional 750,000 of the company's common shares.

The pharmaceutical company conducted an IPO of 5 million shares at $9.50 each. Including the underwritiers' option, the company's IPO netted proceeds of about $48.8 million, after deducting expenses.

The joint book-running managers of the initial public offering were Leerink Swann LLC and Lazard Capital Markets LLC. The co-managers were Needham & Company, LLC, Canaccord Genuity Inc. and Collins Stewart LLC.

Aegerion, based in Bridgewater, N.J., is developing a drug that treats a rare disorder that causes severe high cholesterol. The company has said it plans on using proceeds to pay back debt and fund development of a new cholesterol drug.

Aegerion Pharmaceuticals Appoints Marc Beer as CEO

Aegerion Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of novel therapeutics to treat severe lipid disorders, today announced that Marc Beer has joined the company as both CEO and a member of the Board of Directors.

Marc brings over 20 years of experience in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and diagnostics to Aegerion. In 2000 he became the founding CEO of ViaCell, a biotechnology company specializing in the collection and preservation of umbilical cord blood stem cells, and over a period of 7 years, led the company from its inception to a rapidly growing and robust commercial organization. Under Marc's leadership, the company grew to more than 300 employees, went public in 2005 on NASDAQ under the ticker VIAC, and was ultimately acquired in 2007 by PerkinElmer /quotes/comstock/13*!pki/quotes/nls/pki (PKI 22.21, +0.21, +0.96%) .

Prior to founding ViaCell, Marc held various positions within Genzyme /quotes/comstock/15*!genz/quotes/nls/genz (GENZ 70.31, -0.48, -0.68%) , most recently as Vice President of Global Marketing where he was responsible for the commercial launch of several products addressing orphan disease populations on a global scale. Prior to Genzyme, he held a variety of sales and marketing roles in the pharmaceutical and diagnostic divisions of Abbott Laboratories /quotes/comstock/13*!abt/quotes/nls/abt (ABT 51.51, -0.04, -0.07%) .

He also previously served on the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) Emerging Companies Section Governing Body and was a former member of the Mass Life Science Board of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Marc currently holds the following board seats: Chairman, TxCell, Nice, France; Chairman, Good Start Genetics, Cambridge, MA; Board Member, Seaside Therapeutics, Cambridge, MA. Mr. Beer holds a B.S. from Miami University.