Alex Denner's Sarissa Capital Starts Aegerion Pharmaceuticals Stake

Alex Denner's hedge fund firm Sarissa Capital has filed a 13D with the SEC regarding shares of Aegerion Pharmaceuticals (AEGR).  Per the filing, Sarissa now owns 5.76% of the company with over 1.63 million shares.

Prior to founding Sarissa, Denner worked with Carl Icahn and before that was at Viking Global.  Sarissa's focus is the healthcare/biopharma space.

This is a newly disclosed position as Sarissa did not own any AEGR shares at the end of the third quarter.  The disclosure was made due to portfolio activity on January 30th.  They were out buying primarily in the $23-24 range between January 14th and February 4th.

The activist 13D filing notes that Sarissa intends to engage in discussions with management and has the standard boilerplate under the "purpose of transaction" section.

Per Google Finance, Aegerion Pharmaceuticals is "a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the development and commercialization of innovative therapies for patients with debilitating rare diseases. The Company’s first product, lomitapide, received marketing approval, under the brand name Juxtapid capsules, from the United States Food and Drug Administration as an adjunct to a low-fat diet and other lipid-lowering treatments in adult patients with homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HoFH)."

Mark Kingdon's Thesis on Boeing & Aegerion Pharma: Invest For Kids Chicago

Next up in our notes from Invest For Kids Chicago 2013 is Mark Kingdon of Kingdon Asset Management.   He pitched two ideas: Aegerion Pharma (AEGR) and Boeing (BA).


Mark Kingdon's Presentation at Invest For Kids Chicago

•    $1.6 million dollars 30 years ago; 17% CAGR 30 years
•    Generally positive view on global economy and equities
•    Increasing auto and housing outlook

•    Special situations:

•    Idea #1: Aegerion Pharma (AEGR)
•    Drug is Juxtapid
•    Orphan drug for HOHF (ultra high cholesterol)
•    Original thought was 300 patients in US and 900 worldwide
•    Actually though TAM of 15,000 patients or more (no pediatric assumed)
•    $295,000 per year per patient leads to $25 EPS
•    Sell side is now upping patient forecast to 15,000
•    Upcoming testing in children, Japan is growing


•    Idea #2: Boeing (BA): thinks it's undervalued
•    5 years late and well over budget
•    First major plans designed from ground up since 1960’s
•    Terrific customer experience and better for carriers
•    787 is very economical to operate
•    (no rivets rather using special glue)
•    Boeing CEO – payback could be as low as two years.
•    Used to be 5% payback on a plane and now expected return is 30%
•    Airline industry is facing rising demand
•    8 year backlog for planes
•    2015 is mid-cycle
•    12 FCF (low end of 2015) x 14 multiple = 156 stock
•    Boeing has promised to return 80% of FCF to shareholders
•    Multiple should rise, backlog is strong


Check out the rest of the hedge fund presentations from Invest For Kids Chicago here.