Activist Discloses 5.7% Stake In Aegerion Pharmaceuticals

Aegerion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: AEGR) shares jumped Thursday after an activist hedge fund disclosed a 5.76 percent stake and said it would hold talks with management.

Aegerion changed hands recently at $25.63, up 7.2 percent.

Sarissa Capital Management LP, headed by Alex Denner, a former healthcare investment manager with Carl Icahn, acquired the stake for $39.7 million, according to a 13D filing Thursday.

Although Aegerion shares have been gaining in recent months, the stock is still down more than 55 percent in the past year.

Sarrissa said it regards the shares as "undervalued" and expects to hold discussions with Aegerion.

Several major shareholders want Aegerion to fire Chief Executive Marc D. Beer and put itself on the block, according to unnamed sources cited by Reuters last month.

Aegerion, which develops drugs for rare diseases, is the target of a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation concerning the company's sales its Juxtapid cholesterol drug and whether the company violated anti-corruption law in Brazil.

Aegerion said it believes it complies with rules and is cooperating with the Securities and Exchange Commission investigation, which it disclosed January 12.

The company has also forecast fourth-quarter sales between $49.3 and $51.3 million, more than double the year-earlier amount.

Sarrissa's filing Thursday follows the disclosure Monday of a 5.1 percent passive stake in Aegerion by a group of funds headed by Millennium Management and the January 26 disclosure of a 7.7 percent passive stake by BlackRock Inc.