Gerald (Jerry) Wisler
President and CEO
Jerry Wisler has been in the pharmaceutical industry for 23 years, serving in executive positions at both Merck and Novartis. His career has been marked by successfully commercializing important brands, including Zocor®, Pepcid®, and Diovan®, as well as strategic excellence, leadership, innovation, and a deep scientific understanding. During each of his marketing assignments, the brands under his responsibility enjoyed strong growth, fueled by a focus on understanding the anticipated future evolution of the therapeutic area and his efforts to capitalize upon the change. Jerry also has extensive experience and demonstrated leadership in Managed Care and other key commercial functions.
During his tenure at Merck, Jerry also played a leadership role for the strategic and operational planning process for Merck US Human Health, and served a key role on various US and Global operating committees.
After practicing pharmacy for 3 years (while returning to post-graduate school for a MBA in finance), Jerry joined Merck in 1983. During his 20 year career at Merck he was involved in a variety of functions and had a strong track record of success. In 2003, Jerry left Merck to join Novartis as a Vice President in Marketing, with responsibilities for the Cardiovascular and Metabolic Franchise. Jerry left Novartis in September, 2004 to begin to work with Scheer and Company on the evaluation of AEGR 733 and the development of strategic plans for its clinical program and commercialization, and the formation of Aegerion.
William (Will) H. Lewis
Chief Financial Officer and VP Administration
Will has been involved in the structuring and financing of companies since 1995. Will began his career with JP Morgan, initially in their New York office where he worked on IPO’s, follow-on offerings, carve-outs and private placements. He was transferred to the London office where he continued to work on international financings until early 2000 when he decided to leave to return to the states and pursue work with an investment bank more specifically focused on emerging growth companies. While at Robertson Stephens in Boston, he began to focus on Life Sciences transactions specifically and was responsible for all public and private capital markets transactions in the Life Sciences Group. In August of 2002 he was hired to help lead the creation of an investment banking effort at Wells Fargo Securities. As the first hire into the New York office and Head of Capital Markets Investment Banking he held administrative responsibility for both the New York office and the Private Capital Group. He joined Aegerion Pharmaceuticals in April 2005.
Will holds a BA Cum Laude from Oberlin College and a MBA/JD with Honors from Case Western Reserve University. Prior to attending graduate school he worked for the US Government where he received an Officer’s commission.
William (Bill) J. Sasiela Ph.D.
Chief Medical Officer
Bill Sasiela joins Aegerion with long-standing research experience in lipid metabolism and atherosclerosis. Bill has been in the pharmaceutical industry for nearly 10 years with Parke-Davis/Pfizer. His initial role in the company was as a field Medical Liaison where he was involved in the launch of Lipitor and, in particular, was closely involved in the management of troglitazone (Rezulin). Bill then joined the Lipitor Medical team first as a clinical director and then later led all worldwide medical operations for Lipitor.
Finally, Bill was charged with building the Atherosclerosis Development team within Pfizer’s NY headquarters. Within this role, he led the commercial development program for torcetrapib/atorvastatin as well as sat on the development teams for earlier development products such as ETC-216 (from Esperion). Additionally, he was actively involved in licensing activities for Pfizer within the atherosclerosis and metabolic areas and was part of the overall therapeutic area strategy team for Pfizer.
Bill joined Aegerion in December 2005. Bill has a B.S. in biochemistry from Virginia Tech and a Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina School of Medicine. Bill also conducted post-doctoral research at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
Christine A. Pellizzari
Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary
Christine Pellizzari was appointed Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary in August 2007. Prior to joining Aegerion, Ms. Pellizzari served as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of Dendrite International, Inc., a provider of sales effectiveness, promotional and compliance solutions to the global pharmaceutical industry. Ms. Pellizzari joined Dendrite in 1998 and served as its General Counsel from 2000 to 2007. During her tenure, Ms. Pellizzari built and managed the company’s global legal organization and was responsible for legal, compliance and corporate secretarial functions worldwide. She was a member of the company's Executive Operations Management Committee and helped lead many critical initiatives, including the sale of the company to Cegedim S.A. in May, 2007.
Ms. Pellizzari joined Dendrite from the law firm of Wilentz, Goldman & Spitzer where she specialized in healthcare transactions. Before joining Wilentz, Ms. Pellizzari served as law clerk to the Honorable Reginald Stanton, Assignment Judge, Morris/Sussex Vicinage, Superior Court of New Jersey from 1994 to 1995. Ms. Pellizzari received her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, MA and her Juris Doctorate from the University of Colorado School of Law in Boulder, CO.
Ms. Pellizzari was honored as a member of NJ Biz's "Forty under 40" in 2004. Her professional memberships and affiliations include the Association of Corporate Counsel, Society of Corporate Secretaries and Governance Professionals and the National Association of Stock Plan Professionals.
