Canaccord Genuity Reiterates Buy Rating, $27 PT on Aegerion Pharmaceuticals

In a report published Wednesday, Canaccord Genuity reiterated its Buy rating and $27.00 price target on Aegerion Pharmaceuticals

. Canaccord Genuity noted, “On Dec 24, the FDA approved Juxtapid (lomitapide) “as an adjunct to a low-fat diet and other lipid-lowering treatments, including LDL apheresis where available, to reduce LDL-C, total cholesterol, apo B, and non-HDL-C in patients with homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HoFH)”. The label is in line with expectations, including a boxed warning on liver toxicity, which highlights and is incorporated in the REMS program (see below). On the call, management narrowed its pricing guidance to $200K - $300K/yr (from $200K - $400K previously, vs. CGe $250K). We remain optimistic on the launch and expect shares to trade higher into and on the January disclosure of Juxtapid pricing, patient registry numbers, and FY13 revenue guidance. We would note that our prior physician survey identified 120 HoFH patients in 10 of ~43 U.S.-based lipid centers. As a result, we expect >400 patients identified at launch vs. FC Q1 ($1.51M) and FY13 ($27.3M) estimates suggesting ~60 and ~273 patients on drug, respectively (at $200K/yr).” Aegerion Pharmaceuticals closed on Monday at $25.25.