Aerie Pharmaceuticals Inc. shares rose by more than 60 percent in after-hours trading after the company reported successful 90-day efficacy results of a new eye drug in a filing Wednesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Roclatan, the drug company’s treatment for lowering fluid pressure inside the eyeball, yielded promising results, according to the filing. In a late-stage clinical trial, treatment with Roclatan significantly lower pressure in treated patients compared to those treated with latanoprost or Rhopressa, another Aerie product.
“We are very pleased by these Roclatan 90-day efficacy results from the clinical trial,” Aerie CEO Vicente Anido said in a statement. “As expected, the topline efficacy demonstrated in this trial clearly reconfirms the potential for Roclatan to become the most efficacious IOP-lowering therapy to enter the market, if approved.”
Anido said Aerie expects to file the new drug application for Roclatan by the end of 2017.
The company’s research and development efforts are based in Durham.
The pharmaceutical company’s shares rose in extended Wednesday by over 62 percent within just 30 minutes after the news, up to $34.44 a share from $21.13 at the close. Before the market closed, its shares had risen 7.5 percent, or $1.48 in Sept. 14 trading.
According to filing, Aerie will hold an “Investor Day” in New York City on Oct. 5 to cover further details from the trial and to provide a general business update.
Aerie management will host a conference call to discuss these results at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, according to the filing, which can be found here.
Note: This story is from the North Carolina Business News Wire, a service of UNC-Chapel Hill’s School of Media and Journalism
