The Company	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2015
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]
The Company	The Company Aerie Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (“Aerie”), with its wholly-owned subsidiaries Aerie Pharmaceuticals Limited and Aerie Pharmaceuticals Ireland Limited (“Aerie Limited” and “Aerie Ireland Limited”, respectively, together with Aerie, the “Company”), is a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of small molecule products to treat patients with glaucoma and other diseases of the eye. The Company has its principal executive offices in Irvine, California and operates as one business segment. The Company has not yet commenced commercial operations and therefore has not generated product revenue. The Company’s activities since inception have primarily consisted of developing product candidates, raising capital and performing research and development activities. The Company does not expect to generate revenue until and unless it receives regulatory approval of and successfully commercializes its product candidates. The Company has incurred losses and experienced negative operating cash flows since inception. The Company has funded its operations primarily through the sale of equity securities and issuance of convertible notes. In October 2013, the Company completed its initial public offering (“IPO”) and issued 7,728,000 shares of its common stock at an IPO price of $10.00 per share, including 1,008,000 shares of common stock issued upon the exercise in full by the underwriters of their option to purchase additional shares to cover over-allotments. The Company received net proceeds from the IPO of approximately $68.3 million, after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions of $5.4 million and expenses of $3.6 million. On September 30, 2014, the Company issued $125.0 million aggregate principal amount of senior secured convertible notes (the “2014 Convertible Notes”). The Company received net proceeds from the issuance of the 2014 Convertible Notes of approximately $122.9 million, after deducting discounts and issuance costs of $2.1 million. Refer to Note 8 for further information regarding the 2014 Convertible Notes. On November 3, 2014, the Company filed a shelf registration statement on Form S-3 that permits: (i) the offering, issuance and sale by the Company of up to a maximum aggregate offering price of $150.0 million of the Company’s common stock; (ii) sales of common stock by certain selling stockholders; and (iii) the offering, issuance and sale by the Company of up to a maximum aggregate offering price of $50.0 million of the Company’s common stock that may be issued and sold under an “at-the-market” sales agreement with Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. The common stock that was offered, issued and sold by the Company under this “at-the-market” sales agreement was included in the $150.0 million of common stock that may be offered, issued and sold by the Company under the shelf registration statement. As of December 31, 2015, the Company had no availability to issue shares under this “at-the-market” sales agreement. On November 6, 2015, the Company filed a prospectus supplement to the base prospectus dated November 10, 2014. The prospectus supplement permits the offering, issuance and sale by the Company of up to a maximum aggregate offering price of $50.0 million of the Company’s common stock that may be issued and sold by the Company under separate “at-the-market” sales agreements with RBC Capital Markets, LLC and Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. The common stock that may be offered, issued and sold by the Company under these “at-the-market” sales agreements is included in the $150.0 million of common stock that may be offered, issued and sold by the Company under the shelf registration statement. As of December 31, 2015, $48.1 million remained available for issuance under these “at-the-market” sales agreements. For the year ended December 31, 2015, the Company issued and sold 1,754,556 shares of common stock under the “at-the-market” sales agreements and received net proceeds of $50.5 million, after deducting commissions at a rate of up to 3% of the gross sales price per share sold and other fees and expenses. There were no sales of securities registered pursuant to the shelf registration statement for the year ended December 31, 2014. In March 2015, the Company revised its corporate structure to align with its business strategy outside of North America by establishing Aerie Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary organized under the laws of the Cayman Islands. In addition, Aerie assigned the beneficial rights to its non-U.S. and non-Canadian intellectual property to Aerie Limited (the “IP Assignment”). As part of the IP Assignment, Aerie and Aerie Limited entered into a research and development agreement and cost sharing agreement pursuant to which Aerie and Aerie Limited will share the costs of the development of intellectual property. Refer to Note 9 for a description of the tax impact of the IP Assignment. Additionally, in April 2015, the Company continued to prepare for foreign-based activities and established Aerie Ireland Limited as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Aerie Limited to develop and commercialize the beneficial rights of the intellectual property assigned as part of the IP Assignment pursuant to a license arrangement to be entered into between Aerie Limited and Aerie Ireland Limited. The Company is currently evaluating the possibility of constructing an Aerie manufacturing plant in Ireland. If the Company does not successfully commercialize any of its product candidates, it may be unable to generate product revenue or achieve profitability. Accordingly, the Company may be required to obtain further funding through other public or private offerings, debt financing, collaboration and licensing arrangements or other sources. Adequate additional funding may not be available to the Company on acceptable terms, or at all. If the Company is unable to raise capital when needed or on attractive terms, it would be forced to delay, reduce or eliminate its research and development programs or commercialization efforts.

The Company

Aerie Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (“Aerie”), with its wholly-owned subsidiaries Aerie Pharmaceuticals Limited and Aerie Pharmaceuticals Ireland Limited (“Aerie Limited” and “Aerie Ireland Limited”, respectively, together with Aerie, the “Company”), is a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of small molecule products to treat patients with glaucoma and other diseases of the eye. The Company has its principal executive offices in Irvine, California and operates as one business segment.

The Company has not yet commenced commercial operations and therefore has not generated product revenue. The Company’s activities since inception have primarily consisted of developing product candidates, raising capital and performing research and development activities. The Company does not expect to generate revenue until and unless it receives regulatory approval of and successfully commercializes its product candidates. The Company has incurred losses and experienced negative operating cash flows since inception.

The Company has funded its operations primarily through the sale of equity securities and issuance of convertible notes. In October 2013, the Company completed its initial public offering (“IPO”) and issued 7,728,000 shares of its common stock at an IPO price of $10.00 per share, including 1,008,000 shares of common stock issued upon the exercise in full by the underwriters of their option to purchase additional shares to cover over-allotments. The Company received net proceeds from the IPO of approximately $68.3 million, after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions of $5.4 million and expenses of $3.6 million. On September 30, 2014, the Company issued $125.0 million aggregate principal amount of senior secured convertible notes (the “2014 Convertible Notes”). The Company received net proceeds from the issuance of the 2014 Convertible Notes of approximately $122.9 million, after deducting discounts and issuance costs of $2.1 million. Refer to Note 8 for further information regarding the 2014 Convertible Notes.

On November 3, 2014, the Company filed a shelf registration statement on Form S-3 that permits: (i) the offering, issuance and sale by the Company of up to a maximum aggregate offering price of $150.0 million of the Company’s common stock; (ii) sales of common stock by certain selling stockholders; and (iii) the offering, issuance and sale by the Company of up to a maximum aggregate offering price of $50.0 million of the Company’s common stock that may be issued and sold under an “at-the-market” sales agreement with Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. The common stock that was offered, issued and sold by the Company under this “at-the-market” sales agreement was included in the $150.0 million of common stock that may be offered, issued and sold by the Company under the shelf registration statement. As of December 31, 2015, the Company had no availability to issue shares under this “at-the-market” sales agreement.

On November 6, 2015, the Company filed a prospectus supplement to the base prospectus dated November 10, 2014. The prospectus supplement permits the offering, issuance and sale by the Company of up to a maximum aggregate offering price of $50.0 million of the Company’s common stock that may be issued and sold by the Company under separate “at-the-market” sales agreements with RBC Capital Markets, LLC and Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. The common stock that may be offered, issued and sold by the Company under these “at-the-market” sales agreements is included in the $150.0 million of common stock that may be offered, issued and sold by the Company under the shelf registration statement. As of December 31, 2015, $48.1 million remained available for issuance under these “at-the-market” sales agreements.

For the year ended December 31, 2015, the Company issued and sold 1,754,556 shares of common stock under the “at-the-market” sales agreements and received net proceeds of $50.5 million, after deducting commissions at a rate of up to 3% of the gross sales price per share sold and other fees and expenses. There were no sales of securities registered pursuant to the shelf registration statement for the year ended December 31, 2014.

In March 2015, the Company revised its corporate structure to align with its business strategy outside of North America by establishing Aerie Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary organized under the laws of the Cayman Islands. In addition, Aerie assigned the beneficial rights to its non-U.S. and non-Canadian intellectual property to Aerie Limited (the “IP Assignment”). As part of the IP Assignment, Aerie and Aerie Limited entered into a research and development agreement and cost sharing agreement pursuant to which Aerie and Aerie Limited will share the costs of the development of intellectual property. Refer to Note 9 for a description of the tax impact of the IP Assignment. Additionally, in April 2015, the Company continued to prepare for foreign-based activities and established Aerie Ireland Limited as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Aerie Limited to develop and commercialize the beneficial rights of the intellectual property assigned as part of the IP Assignment pursuant to a license arrangement to be entered into between Aerie Limited and Aerie Ireland Limited. The Company is currently evaluating the possibility of constructing an Aerie manufacturing plant in Ireland.

If the Company does not successfully commercialize any of its product candidates, it may be unable to generate product revenue or achieve profitability. Accordingly, the Company may be required to obtain further funding through other public or private offerings, debt financing, collaboration and licensing arrangements or other sources. Adequate additional funding may not be available to the Company on acceptable terms, or at all. If the Company is unable to raise capital when needed or on attractive terms, it would be forced to delay, reduce or eliminate its research and development programs or commercialization efforts.