Aerie Pharmaceuticals prices $75m public offering

Aerie Pharmaceuticals (NSDQ:AERI) has priced an underwritten public offering of $75 million in shares of its common stock.

The Irvine, Calif.-based company also plans to grant underwriters a 30-day option to buy up to $11.3 million in shares of common stock.

Aerie reported that it plans to use the net proceeds from the offering to fund U.S. commercialization programs for its eye drugs, Rhopressa and Roclatan, as well as support development for its products in the pipeline.

The company is also reportedly working to build its own manufacturing plant in Ireland.

Aerie won an early FDA nod for its glaucoma drug, Rhopressa, in December last year. The FDA was slated to make a decision about the company’s eye drops in February.

The win for Aerie came after an expert panel voted 9-1 in the drug’s favor. Studies have found that Rhopressa lowers elevated intraocular pressure in the eye, but analysts have noted that the twice-daily generic timolol ophthalmic solution 0.5% is more effective for patients with severe cases of glaucoma.

Aerie’s next product, Roclatan, combines Rhopressa with the generic latanoprost. The company plans to submit that drug for approval with the FDA in Q2 of 2018.

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