Aerie Pharmaceuticals Inc. has quietly shifted its headquarters from Irvine to North Carolina, removing a notable name from the list of Orange County-based public companies.
The ophthalmic pharmaceutical company with a $2.3 billion market cap, good enough to make it No. 12 among locally based public companies earlier this year, moved its official head of operations last month from Irvine to Durham, where it already had a large presence.
Aerie employs about 50 of its some 160 employees there, where it leases 45,400 square feet of office and lab space.
The company’s lead drug originated in Research Triangle Park, an area near three of the state’s biggest universities in Durham, Raleigh and Chapel Hill that’s home to a large base of biotech and pharmaceutical firms.
Aerie’s late founder, David Epstein, previously served as chairman of ophthalmology at Duke University in Durham.
Aerie’s Irvine office, at the Irvine Concourse office campus near John Wayne Airport, is 37,300 square feet. Its lease expires in early 2022, according to the company’s annual report filed last month.
Aerie has an estimated 40 employees in Irvine, and continues to hire here. Its website lists about half a dozen open local positions, including scientist, business analyst and sales-related jobs.
“Nobody is moving,” an Aerie spokesperson confirmed last week.
Irvine now houses Aerie’s regulatory, commercial support and other administrative activities, according to the annual report.
The company, which went public in 2013, had been based in OC for about three years. It was previously headquartered in New Jersey, where it continues to have a presence.
Aerie also has a location in Ireland, where it’s building a manufacturing facility.
Rhopressa Rollout
The headquarters relocation comes as Aerie prepares to launch sales of its first Food and Drug Administration-approved glaucoma eye drop, Rhopressa.
The product is designed to lower elevated intraocular pressure in patients with open-angle glaucoma by facilitating drainage of excessive eye fluid.
It received FDA approval in December, and Aerie plans to start commercialization in the next few months.
“It’s certainly an extraordinary time for our company,” Chief Executive Vicente “Vince” Anido said last month on the company’s latest earnings call.
Anido has offices in each of the company’s three main locations, “but is on the road a lot with investors,” the spokesperson said.
He said the Irvine office is home to Chief Operating Officer Thomas Mitro, Chief Commercial Officer Judith Robertson, and that the “commercial team, regulatory group, quality group are here … a lot of key functions are here and staying here.”
The company’s in the process of hiring nearly 100 people to handle sales of Rhopressa and potentially a related drug in the near future.
It plans to submit its other glaucoma product, Roclatan, to the FDA for approval this year. The review period should last about 12 months, Anido said last month.
Product commercialization would be a big shift for Aerie, which hasn’t generated revenue since beginning operations in 2005.
Its accumulated deficit was $461.7 million late last year, when $145 million of that took place. It plans to spend $200 million to $210 million this year.
“Our capital resources and business efforts are largely focused on preparation for commercialization of Rhopressa, advancing our product pipeline, international expansion and construction of our manufacturing facility” in Ireland, its annual report said.
The company said last month that it’s aiming for $20 million to $30 million in Rhopressa sales this year.
Big losses and minimal sales haven’t hurt the firm’s Wall Street standing. Its shares are up more than 20% in the past year, and its stock has risen nearly fivefold in the past two years.
Duke Connection
Aerie’s technology originated at Proctor & Gamble under the direction of Mitchell de Long, who today serves as Aerie vice president of chemistry research and development and teaches as an adjunct chemistry professor at Duke.
The project stalled, and the entire venture was gifted to Duke.
Early medical chemistry development took place in the lab of Duke chemistry and biochemistry professor Eric Toone. Rhopressa’s lead compound came from another Duke startup.
Epstein, Toone and biotechnology consultant Casey Kopczynski, Aerie’s chief scientific officer, helped secure $25 million in venture financing that supported the company’s first- and second-phase trials.
Its new headquarters, in addition to paying tribute to Aerie’s founding, plays a big role in the company’s future as a research and development center. Aerie bought drug delivery technology PRINT from Envisia Therapeutics Inc. in Durham in October.
Other OC Losses
Aerie’s headquarters relocation is the latest notable change among OC’s large public companies.
Also last month, Miami-based Lennar Corp. completed its acquisition of Irvine-based homebuilder CalAtlantic Group Inc., which was valued at about $6 billion when the deal was completed, making it the fifth-biggest area public company.
Fourth-ranked Microsemi Corp. in Aliso Viejo, with a $7.8 billion market cap, announced a deal this month to be acquired by Microchip Technology Inc. in Chandler, Ariz. The deal is expected to close by the end of June.
