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Aerie Pharmaceuticals Names Vicente Anido, Jr., Current Chairman of the Board, as Chief Executive Officer
BEDMINSTER, N.J. & RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Aerie Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that Vicente Anido, Jr., Ph.D., Chairman of Aerie’s Board of Directors, has been named Chief Executive Officer and will continue as Chairman of the Company. Dr. Anido is a well-respected ophthalmology industry veteran and leader, who most recently served as President and Chief Executive Officer of ISTA Pharmaceuticals prior to its acquisition by Bausch + Lomb in June 2012. Dr. Anido is replacing Aerie’s founding Chief Executive Officer Thomas J. van Haarlem, M.D., who is stepping down from his positions as President, CEO and Director of Aerie. Dr. van Haarlem will serve as a consultant to the Company and also will continue in the role of President of Novaer Holdings, Inc., an independent privately held company possessing ophthalmic delivery technologies previously developed at Aerie.
Dr. Anido stated, “I am grateful to Tom for his tenure and service during the eight years since he founded the Company. He shepherded the Company and successfully took Aerie through multiple financings, from start-up to a clinical-stage company. Under the leadership of Dr. van Haarlem, he and his team have built a strong research program in Rho Kinase technologies, advancing first-in-class product candidate AR-13324 to address a significant market opportunity in glaucoma. Aerie’s program is studying this candidate both as a Phase 3-ready standalone therapy and as a combination product designated PG324, which is formulated in combination with latanoprost, currently the most prescribed glaucoma drug. I am looking forward to the continued advancement of this exciting program.”
From 2001 to 2012, Dr. Anido was President, Chief Executive Officer and a Director of ISTA Pharmaceuticals. Prior to this, Dr. Anido was general partner of Windamere Venture partners, served as President and CEO of CombiChem, Inc., a biotechnology company, and was President of the Americas Region of Allergan, a specialty pharmaceutical company focusing on ophthalmology, dermatology and neuromuscular indications. Dr. Anido currently serves on the Board of Directors of QLT, Inc. and Depomed, Inc., both of which are NASDAQ-listed pharmaceutical companies, and Nicox S.A. listed on the NYSE Euronext Paris. He received a B.S. in Pharmacy and an M.S. in Pharmacy Administration from West Virginia University, and a Ph.D. in Pharmacy Administration from the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
About Aerie Pharmaceuticals
Aerie Pharmaceuticals is a privately held pharmaceutical company in late Phase 2 dedicated to the discovery and development of novel small-molecule treatments for glaucoma. Aerie’s internal research and development engine has generated an innovative glaucoma pipeline of proprietary product candidates, which are well tolerated, high efficacy, once-daily eye drop therapies that include the first new mechanisms of action for glaucoma treatment in nearly 20 years.
The Company’s lead product candidate, AR-13324, is the first of a new dual action drug class that reduces the eye’s fluid inflow while also increasing fluid outflow through the trabecular meshwork, which is the eye’s main fluid drain, all in a highly effective single drop per day. Aerie’s PG324 fixed combination of AR-13324 with latanoprost is a first-in-class glaucoma therapy to lower intraocular pressure by reducing fluid inflow while also opening both of the eye’s fluid drains. This product candidate offers the convenience of two drugs in one eye drop.
Aerie is located in Bedminster, New Jersey and Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. Further information on the Company is available at www.aeriepharma.com.
Contact:
Aerie Pharmaceuticals
Richard Rubino, (908) 470-4320
rrubino@aeriepharma.com
or
Burns McClellan, Inc., on behalf of Aerie Pharmaceuticals
Justin Jackson, (212) 213-0006
jjackson@burnsmc.com
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