Goodwin Procter client Aegerion Pharmaceuticals recently completed an initial public offering of its common stock (NASDAQ: AEGR). Aegerion raised net proceeds of approximately $48.8 million in the offering.
Aegerion is an emerging biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of novel therapeutics to treat severe lipid disorders. The company’s lead product, lomitapide, is in Phase III clinical development. Lomitapide is initially being developed to treat patients with extremely high LDL-C levels who are at severely high risk of experiencing premature heart attacks or strokes. The company also plans to initiate a clinical program for lomitapide to treat patients with a severe genetic form of hypertriglyceridemia (FC).
Goodwin has represented Aegerion since 2005, shortly after it was incorporated by serial entrepreneur David Scheer. The firm’s work for Aegerion represents an excellent example of Goodwin Procter’s collaborative, cross-departmental approach to client service. Early on, Goodwin’s Kingsley L. Taft was instrumental in helping Aegerion secure critical in-licenses of technology from The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania/Bristol Myers Squibb and Bayer Healthcare. In addition, partners Edmund R. Pitcher, Duncan A. Greenhalgh and Theresa C. Kavanaugh helped Aegerion secure a favorable settlement and cross-license with Pfizer. Kavanaugh has also worked with Aegerion since 2006 on to intellectual property matters.
A Goodwin team, led by partners Jocelyn M. Arel and Michael H. Bison, went on to represent Aegerion through multiple rounds of preferred stock and convertible note financings, venture lending transactions, a sell-side auction process and two CEO changes. The completion of this IPO, following two previous attempts, reflects success in spite of the difficult conditions that have characterized the public equity markets for life sciences companies in recent years.