IRVINE, Calif.—Aerie Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:AERI), a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company focused on developing therapies for treating glaucoma and other eye diseases, has added three new employees as part of an effort to expand its commercial team and changed the responsibilities of a current employee.

The new hires are: Gary Menichini, as vice president of sales; Dale Seibt, as vice president of market access; and Gerry McKenzie, as vice president of commercial operations. In addition, Michael McCleerey has moved to a new role within the company as vice president of portfolio development. He was vice president of marketing.

All four positions are newly established and report to chief commercial officer Judith Robertson, Aerie said in its announcement.

Menichini will head all product sales activities. He most recently was a vice president and head of commercial at Genoptix, a unit of Novartis, and previously worked at Alcon Laboratories (also a Novartis unit) where his responsibilities touched upon an array of ophthalmology products.

Seibt will lead activities associated with payor reimbursement. Most recently, he was head of market access, U.S. pharmaceuticals, at Alcon, a position he held since 2010. Seibt has nearly 20 years of market access experience in the ophthalmology industry.

McKenzie will lead the operational functions in support of the field sales organization, including sales reporting, business analysis, sales force targeting and deployment, and third-party logistics management. McCleerey’s previous posts included responsibilities for evaluating the commercial potential of products in the pipeline, as well as the potential associated with geographic markets expansion.

Aerie’s two lead product candidates are once-daiIy intraocular, pressure-lowering therapies with novel mechanisms of action to treat patients with glaucoma or ocular hypertension.