Gainey McKenna & Egleston Announces a Class Action Lawsuit Has Been Filed Against Aerie Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (AERI)


NEW YORK, April 30, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gainey McKenna & Egleston announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey on behalf of all persons or entities that purchased the securities of Aerie Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (“Aerie” or the “Company”) (Nasdaq:AERI) during the period between August 6, 2014 and April 23, 2015 (the “Class Period”).

The Complaint alleges that Aerie and certain of its officers and directors violated the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Aerie is a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company which purports to focus on the discovery, development and commercialization of first-in-class therapies for the treatment of glaucoma and other eye diseases. Its lead product candidate is Rhopressa. TM (“Rhopressa”), a once-per-day eye drop that is designed to lower intraocular pressure (“IOP”) in patients with glaucoma or ocular hypertension. Rhopressa was being tested in recent drug trials designed to show that Rhopressa was not inferior to an older, twice-per-day eye drop called timolol at reducing IOP after two weeks, six weeks, and 90 days of treatment.

The Complaint charges that during the Class Period, defendants made false and misleading statements and/or failed to disclose adverse information regarding the Company’s prospects for Rhopressa, including that Rhopressa was not performing as well as timolol and would not lead to commercial success for Aerie. The Complaint alleges that as a result of these false and misleading statements and/or omissions, Aerie securities traded at artificially inflated prices during the Class Period, with its stock price reaching a Class Period high of $35.39 per share.

On April 23, 2015, Aerie issued a press release announcing the results of its first Phase 3 registration trial for Rhopressa. According to the release, “[t]he trial did not meet its primary efficacy endpoint of demonstrating non-inferiority of IOP lowering for once-daily RhopressaTM compared to twice-daily timolol, the most widely used comparator in registration trials for glaucoma.” As a result of this news, the price of Aerie stock fell $22.52 per share to close at $12.87 per share on April 24, 2015, a one-day decline of nearly 64%.

If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than June 29 2015. A lead plaintiff is a representative party acting on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation. If you wish to join the litigation, or to discuss your rights or interests regarding this class action, please contact Thomas J. McKenna, Esq. or Gregory M. Egleston, Esq. of Gainey McKenna & Egleston at (212) 983-1300, or via e-mail at tjmckenna@gme-law.com or gegleston@gme-law.com.

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