Earlier this month, Aegerion Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: AEGR) missed analyst expectations for Juxtapid, with sales coming in at $27 million, and the company lowered guidance for the year to a range of $180 million to $200 million, from a ranger of $190 million to $210 million.
In the following video, senior biotech specialist Brian Orelli and health-care analyst David Williamson discuss the situation with Aegerion Pharmaceuticals and the orphan-drug model in general.
For Juxtapid, it's hard to know if competition is an issue, because its closest competitor, Kynamro, is sold by Sanofi (SNY 0.52%) which doesn't break out sales since they're not material to the larger company. Kynamro was developed by Isis Pharmaceuticals (ISIS 2.03%), which is materially affected by sales, but the biotech isn't able to give investors information on the launch because it's fully under Sanofi's control.
