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ALIMERA ANNOUNCES POSITIVE 36-MONTH RESULTS

FROM THE COMPLETED PHASE 3 FAME STUDY OF ILUVIEN IN PATIENTS WITH

DIABETIC MACULAR EDEMA

28.4% and 29.0% demonstrated improvement in best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) of 15 letters from

baseline, at three years. Statistical significance seen in both trials as late as month 33.

Alimera will host a conference call and slide show presentation at 4:30 PM ET today to discuss

these results and additional data from the FAME Study.

Peter Campochiaro, M.D., will present results at Angiogenesis, Exudation and Degeneration

2011, February 12, in Miami, Fla.

ATLANTA, February 3, 2011 Alimera Sciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALIM) ( Alimera ), a biopharmaceutical

company that specializes in the research, development and commercialization of prescription

ophthalmic pharmaceuticals, today reported results through month 36 of the completed FAME Study.

The FAME Study consisted of two three-year, Phase 3 pivotal clinical trials (Trial A and Trial B)

to assess the safety and efficacy of ILUVIEN in the treatment of diabetic macular edema (DME).

Patients in the trials were randomized to receive either high dose ILUVIEN, low dose ILUVIEN or

control treatment. The primary endpoint for efficacy in the trials was the difference in the

percentage of patients whose best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) improved by 15 or more letters

from baseline on the Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) eye chart at month 24

between the treatment and control groups.

Alimera previously presented data for both the low and high dose patient results at month 24. Based

on these data, Alimera submitted a New Drug Application (NDA) on June 29, 2010 for approval of only

the low dose. Therefore, only the low dose data is presented and discussed in this release.

Data through month 36 for the Full Analysis Set in Trial A demonstrated statistically significant

therapeutic effects of 28.9% at month 30 (p=0.011) and 28.4% at month 33 (p=0.042) of ILUVIEN

patients gaining 15 or more letters, compared to the control group, in which fewer than 17% of

patients gained 15 or more letters. The therapeutic effect was maintained at month

36 (28.4% of patients gained 15 or more letters); and 18.9% of the control group gained 15 or more

Results from Trial B were similar. Statistically significant therapeutic effects of 33.9% at month

30 (p=0.002) and 29.6% at month 33 (p=0.046) of ILUVIEN patients gaining 15 or more letters over

baseline were demonstrated, and an effect of 29.0% (p=0.086%) was seen at month 36 compared to

the control group, which had fewer than 18% of patients making such gains. At month 36, 29.0% of

ILUVIEN patients gained 15 or more letters compared with 18.9% of control patients (p=0.086).

By comparison, at month 24 in Trial A, 26.8% of ILUVIEN patients and 14.7% of control patients had

gained 15 or more letters (p=0.029). In Trial B, 30.6% of ILUVIEN patients and 17.8% of control

patients (p=0.030) gained 15 letters or greater over baseline.

As previously reported, Trial A and B data combined demonstrated a statistically significant effect

at week three. This effect was maintained throughout the 36 months, with 28.7% of ILUVIEN patients

and 16.2% of control patients (p=0.002) having an improvement in BCVA of 15 letters or greater over

baseline at month 24, 31.4% versus 15.1% at month 30 (p= 0.001), 29% versus 17.3% at month 33

(p=0.004) and 28.7% versus 18.9% at month 36 (p=0.018).

This consistent response rate at month 24 and month 36, with a peak rate of 31.4% in month 30, is

encouraging, and we believe demonstrates that ILUVIEN can provide a long-term option for the

treatment of DME for up to three years, said Dan Myers, president and CEO of Alimera Sciences.

The Full Analysis Set includes 376 patients in the ILUVIEN arm and 185 patients in the control arm

with data imputation employed using last observation carried forward (LOCF) only for missing data.

Data for the Full Analysis Set includes 190 patients in Trial A and 186 patients in Trial B

randomized to the ILUVIEN arm.

Safety was assessed for all patients treated with ILUVIEN in the study. Intraocular pressure (IOP)

increases to 30 millimeters of mercury (mmHg) or greater at any time point had been seen in 18.4%

of the patients by month 36 compared to 16.3% by the month 24 readout. By month 36, 4.8% of

patients had undergone an incisional surgical procedure to reduce elevated pressure versus 3.7% of

patients by month 24. The incidence of cataract among patients with a natural lens in their eye at

the start of the trial was 81.7% at month 36, with 80% undergoing a cataract operation, compared to

80% and 74.9%, respectively, at the time of the month 24 readout.

We believe the statistical significance observed in both trials at month 33 meets the criteria for

replication of efficacy in the two studies, said Susan Caballa, senior vice president of

regulatory affairs at Alimera. We will provide this safety and efficacy data to the FDA so that it

will have the opportunity to review it as part of our pending NDA for ILUVIEN for the treatment of

Alimera will host a conference call today, February 3, at 4:30 p.m. ET to discuss these results in

greater detail. The conference call will be hosted by Dan Myers, president and chief executive

officer, Ken Green, chief scientific officer, and Rick Eiswirth, chief operating officer and chief

financial officer. To participate in the call, please dial (877) 369-6586 (U.S. and Canada) or

(253) 237-1165 (international). A live webcast will be available on the Investor Relations section

of the corporate website at http://www.alimerasciences.com.

A replay of the conference call will be available beginning February 4, 2011 at 11:30 a.m. ET and

ending on February 18, 2011, and can be accessed by dialing (800) 642-1687 (U.S. and Canada) or

(706) 645-9291 (international), Conference ID Number: 34501644.

Slides from the conference call containing more detailed information with respect to the 36- month

data are being furnished by Alimera to the Securities and Exchange Commission on Form 8-K. The

information in this press release is qualified in its entirety by the more detailed information

contained in those slides.

Additional data and analysis of the FAME Study will be presented by Peter Campochiaro, M.D., on

February 12, 2011, at 1:40 p.m. at the Angiogenesis, Exudation and Degeneration 2011 Meeting in the

Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Miami, Fla. Dr. Campochiaro is a professor in the Department of

Ophthalmology at The Wilmer Eye Institute, Retina Division at Johns Hopkins.

About the FAME Study

Alimera conducted two 36-month, Phase 3 pivotal clinical trials (collectively known as the FAME

Study) for ILUVIEN involving 956 patients in sites across the United States, Canada, Europe and

India to assess the efficacy and safety of ILUVIEN with two doses of the corticosteroid

fluocinolone acetonide (FAc), a high and low dose, for the treatment of DME. The primary efficacy

endpoint for the FAME Study was the difference in the percentage of patients whose best corrected

visual acuity improved by 15 or more letters from baseline on the ETDRS eye chart at month 24

between the treatment and control groups. The study concluded in October 2010 with the final

patient visit at the three-year data point.

Following its NDA submission to the FDA, Alimera submitted a Marketing Authorization Application to

the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency in the United Kingdom. Applications have

also been submitted to regulatory agencies in Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal and Spain.

Based upon the analysis of the FAME Study, all filings included the 24-month data. The FDA, in a

December 2010 Complete Response Letter, requested further information, including the month 36 data

from the FAME Study.

DME, the primary cause of vision loss associated with diabetic retinopathy, is a disease affecting

the macula, the part of the retina responsible for central vision. When the blood vessel leakage of

diabetic retinopathy causes swelling in the macula, the condition is called DME. The onset of DME

is painless and may go undetected by the patient until it manifests with the blurring of central

vision or acute vision loss. The severity of this blurring may range from mild to profound loss of

vision. The Wisconsin Epidemiologic Study of Diabetic Retinopathy found that over a 10-year period

approximately 19 percent of people with diabetes studied were diagnosed with DME. As the population

of people with diabetes increases, Alimera expects the annual incidence of diagnosed DME to

ILUVIEN is an investigative, extended release intravitreal insert that Alimera is developing for