Pharma

Glaucoma treatment pharma company Aerie closes $41M venture round

Glaucoma treatment company Aerie Pharmaceuticals has closed a $41.3 million round of financing as the company prepares for phase III trials. Aerie’s glaucoma treatment candidate is AR-12286. The compound is what’s called a Rho-kinase inhibitor. Aerie has said AR-12286’s mechanism of action repairs the diseased tissue, restoring normal function to the eye. No glaucoma medicines currently available are Rho-kinase inhibitors. During the recent CED Biotech/Life Science conference in Raleigh, North Carolina, Aerie said that it has successfully completed phase II studies and is ready to move into phase III.

By Frank Vinluan on March 02, 2011

Glaucoma treatment company Aerie Pharmaceuticals has closed a $41.3 million round of financing as the company prepares for late stage clinical trials on its lead drug candidate.

The company raised the money quickly; securities filings show that the date of the first sale in this round was Feb. 23. Aerie President and CEO Tom van Haarlem, who was vice president of Pfizer‘s (NYSE:PFE) surgical ophthalmology business before joining Aerie, did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Aerie released a statement on March 7 saying that the fundraise was a $30 million series B round led by new investor Clarus Ventures and existing investor Sofinnova Ventures. Also participating were Osage University Partners and existing investors Alta Partners and TPG Biotech. With the new financing, Clarus Ventures Managing Director Dennis Henner joins Aerie’s board of directors. Dr. Anand Mehra, partner at Sofinova Ventures, joined Aerie’s board last September.

Aerie, a Duke University spinout, has its corporate headquarters in Bridgewater, New Jersey. But the company maintains its R&D arm in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. The company was founded in Chapel Hill, North Carolina in 2005.

Aerie’s glaucoma treatment candidate is AR-12286. The compound is what’s called a Rho-kinase inhibitor. Aerie has said AR-12286’s mechanism of action repairs the diseased tissue, restoring normal function to the eye. No glaucoma medicines currently available are Rho-kinase inhibitors. During the recent CED Biotech/Life Science conference in Raleigh, North Carolina, Aerie said that it has successfully completed phase II studies and is ready to move into phase III.

Records at the National Institutes of Health show that Aerie last August completed a phase II trial in which its glaucoma drug candidate was compared to Latanoprost, Pfizer’s blockbuster glaucoma drug which is marketed under the name Xalatan. Xalatan, which generated $1.7 billion in revenue in 2009, faces patent expiration this year. Records also show that Aerie is now currently recruiting patients for a trial studying AR-12286 in combination with Latanoprost.