FDA Advisory Committee Recommends Approval Of Lomitapide For Treatment Of Homozygous Familial Hypercholesterolemia (HoFH)

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Oct. 17, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aegerion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq:AEGR), an emerging biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of novel therapeutics to treat debilitating and often fatal rare diseases, announced that the Endocrinologic and Metabolic Drugs Advisory Committee (EMDAC) of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) determined by a vote of 13 to 2 that Aegerion has presented sufficient safety and efficacy data to support marketing of its product, lomitapide, for the treatment of patients with Homozygous Familial Hypercholesterolemia (HoFH) when used as an adjunct to a low-fat diet and other lipid-lowering therapies.

"Today's Advisory Committee recommendation is an important milestone in our mission to provide patients with HoFH with urgently needed new treatment options to lower their cholesterol levels," said Marc Beer, Chief Executive Officer of Aegerion Pharmaceuticals. "We look forward to continuing to work closely with the FDA as the agency completes its review of our new drug application for lomitapide."

The FDA has assigned a Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) action date of December 29, 2012, for completion of its review of the New Drug Application (NDA) for lomitapide. The EMDAC provides the FDA with independent expert advice and recommendations. The FDA is not bound by the EMDAC's recommendation, but will consider the committee's recommendation as the FDA completes its review of the lomitapide NDA.

Conference Call Details

The Aegerion management team will hold a conference call with the investment community to discuss the outcome of the EMDAC meeting today at 7:00 pm EDT. To listen to the live conference call, dial [phone] (International callers dial [phone]). In addition, the conference call will be available through a live audio webcast in the " Investors" section of the Aegerion website, www.aegerion.com . The conference call will be archived and accessible on the same website shortly after the conclusion of the call.

About Lomitapide

Lomitapide is a microsomal triglyceride transfer protein (MTP) inhibitor that Aegerion is developing as a once-day capsule for the treatment of patients afflicted with certain severe lipid disorders, including HoFH. MTP exists in both the liver and intestines where it plays a role in the formation of lipoproteins containing cholesterol and triglycerides. Inhibiting MTP reduces the level of cholesterol that the liver and intestines assemble and secrete into the bloodstream. Currently, there is no MTP inhibitor approved by the FDA for any indication.

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