Aegerion And QLT Agree To Merge

Aegerion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. AEGR and QLT Inc. QLTI revealed that they reached a definitive merger agreement under which Aegerion will be merged with a fully owned indirect subsidiary of QLT. According to the company, after the planned merger completion, each outstanding share of Aegerion would be exchanged for 1.0256 shares of QLT common stock.

The companies indicated QLT intends to change its name after the closing of the proposed transaction to Novelion Therapeutics Inc. and its shares would trade on the NASDAQ Global Select Market and the Toronto Stock Exchange.

QLT and Aegerion said a broad-based investor syndicate consisted of both new investors and existing shareholders of both companies has committed to invest about $22 million in QLT and to vote in favor of the proposed transaction.

Aegerion's CEO, Mary Szela, who would serve as CEO of Novelion following the close of the transaction, commented, "We believe QLT's clinical development team, and meaningful cash position, and Aegerion's commercialization expertise will help unlock significant value in QLT's Zuretinol asset and enable Novelion to pursue important milestones across a commercial and late-stage portfolio, including potential regulatory approval in Japan for Juxtapid and potential regulatory filings in Europe for Myalept. I believe that this proposed merger represents a fresh start and an opportunity to create significant value, and I look forward to driving our programs forward."

The companies indicated that based on the planned merger by the end of the third quarter of 2016, Novelion is expected to have an unrestricted cash balance of over $100 million.

QLT's Interim CEO, said, "Given the resource requirements for QLT to build out a global commercial infrastructure designed to most effectively maximize the value of our promising ultra-orphan Zuretinol asset, the QLT board determined that it would be advantageous to join forces with a strategic partner possessing the relevant orphan product infrastructure."