US pharmaceutical Company, Aerie Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is to establish its first manufacturing plant in Athlone’s Technology & Business Park. Headquartered in California, with locations in New Jersey, North Carolina, Aerie has also established an Irish entity in Dublin, Aerie Pharmaceuticals Ireland Ltd. Aerie is a clinical stage pharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialisation of first-in-class therapies for the treatment of patients with glaucoma and other diseases of the eye.
Aerie’s new facility in Athlone is being supported by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation through IDA Ireland and is expected to commercially supply global markets with Aerie’s current product candidates, Rhopressa® and RoclatanTM, in 2020. If approved these products have the potential to be classified as the first new mechanisms of action for the treatment of patient with glaucoma in some 20 years. This state of the art facility will include end to end operations – compounding, sterile filling, and packaging with all necessary support capabilities (QC laboratories, warehousing, etc. ). Aerie Ireland plans to recruit an additional 40 employees in Ireland over the next 18 months.
Speaking during his recent visit to the plant Vince Anido, CEO & Chairman of the Board, said “Glaucoma is the second leading cause of irreversible blindness and the number of people with this disease is estimated to grow to 80m globally by 2020. Unfortunately, there is currently no cure for glaucoma, but first-in-class therapies such as the ones we’re developing will help patients to better manage the disease and thus improve the quality of their lives”.
Aerie is a very passionate and driven organisation where it’s employees are central to the company’s success and building the right team is a number one priority; this was one of the primary reasons that Aerie selected Ireland to establish its first manufacturing facility. “Ireland is one of the best locations in the world when it comes to high calibre talent, compliance and quality assurance in pharmaceutical manufacturing. It also has a strong track record of delivering start-ups and manufacturing excellence in highly-regulated industries making it the perfect location for Aerie Pharmaceuticals. We are very pleased with the progress of our start-up to date and very excited by the prospect of building further our team to establish a leading sterile filling operation here in Athlone” Barry Ivin, Site Director.
Aerie’s culture is conducive to self-starters who will enjoy the challenge of working within a small, high-performing team and being able to apply their experience and passion to a sterile manufacturing start-up. Aerie are currently sourcing for 2018 positions: Manufacturing, Quality, Science, Engineering and other support capabilities for their new facility in Athlone. To find our more, log on to: www.cpl.ie/Aerie
