3d ago
Pacira Announces Exclusive Agreement with Molteni Farmaceutici to Commercialize EXPAREL® in the European Union and United Kingdom
– Expands patient access to opioid-sparing pain control and advances 5x30 strategy –
BRISBANE, Calif., Oct. 05, 2026 — Pacira BioSciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: PCRX), the industry leader in its commitment to deliver innovative, non-opioid pain therapies to transform the lives of patients, today announced a strategic partnership with Molteni Farmaceutici to expand access to opioid-sparing postsurgical pain management across European markets. Through this partnership, Molteni Farmaceutici will receive exclusive rights to distribute and commercialize EXPAREL® (bupivacaine liposome injectable suspension), Pacira’s long-acting, local analgesic for postsurgical pain management, within the licensed territories.
“We are excited to announce another strategic partnership that advances our 5x30 growth strategy and reinforces our commitment to expanding patient access to best-practice opioid-sparing postsurgical pain management,” said Frank D. Lee, chief executive officer of Pacira BioSciences. “With Molteni Farmaceutici’s longstanding leadership in pain management and extensive distribution network across Europe, they are ideally positioned to unlock EXPAREL’s full potential in key European markets.”
“This agreement is highly complementary with Molteni’s strategic priorities, and represents an important step in Molteni’s international growth and expansion strategy, while adding an innovative and differentiated medicine to our portfolio. We believe EXPAREL represents a compelling opportunity to address the significant unmet need for effective postsurgical pain management across Europe,” said Gianluca Corbinelli, chief executive officer at Molteni Farmaceutici. “We look forward to bringing this important treatment to more patients and healthcare providers across the region.”
Under the terms of the agreement, Pacira will receive an undisclosed upfront payment, a supply price, and royalties on future commercial sales by Molteni Farmaceutici in licensed territories. Pacira will manufacture EXPAREL. Molteni Farmaceutici will lead regulatory, market access, and commercialization activities across the licensed territories, leveraging its established leadership and proven track record in pain management. Molteni Farmaceutici plans to launch EXPAREL sequentially, beginning with Italy, Germany, Austria, and Poland, and pursue approval in Switzerland. The first commercial sale is expected in 2027.
This partnership reflects the companies’ shared commitment to improving postsurgical pain management by combining Pacira’s differentiated product with Molteni Farmaceutici’s strong commercial execution capabilities and deep understanding of local European markets.
Locust Walk acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Pacira in the transaction.
About Molteni Farmaceutici
Molteni Farmaceutici is an Italian pharmaceutical company with a long-standing heritage of over 130 years and a strong focus on specialty care. The company is recognized for its commitment to excellence in pain management, oncology supportive care and hospital-based treatments, delivering high-quality therapies that improve patient outcomes and quality of life.
About Pacira
Pacira delivers innovative, non-opioid pain therapies to transform the lives of patients. Pacira has two commercial-stage non-opioid treatments: EXPAREL® (bupivacaine liposome injectable suspension), a long-acting local analgesic for post-surgical pain management and ZILRETTA® (triamcinolone acetonide extended-release injectable suspension), an extended-release, intra-articular injection indicated for the management of osteoarthritis knee pain. The company is also advancing a pipeline of clinical-stage assets for musculoskeletal pain and adjacencies. Its most advanced product candidate, PCRX-201 (enekinragene inzadenovec), a novel locally administered gene therapy, is in Phase 2 clinical development for osteoarthritis of the knee. To learn more about Pacira, visit www.pacira.com.
About EXPAREL****® (bupivacaine liposome injectable suspension)
EXPAREL is indicated to produce postsurgical local analgesia via infiltration in patients aged 6 years and older, and postsurgical regional analgesia via an interscalene brachial plexus block in adults, a sciatic nerve block in the popliteal fossa in adults, and an adductor canal block in adults. The safety and effectiveness of EXPAREL have not been established to produce postsurgical regional analgesia via other nerve blocks besides an interscalene brachial plexus nerve block, a sciatic nerve block in the popliteal fossa, or an adductor canal block. The product combines bupivacaine with multivesicular liposomes, a proven product delivery technology that delivers medication over a desired time period. EXPAREL represents the first and only multivesicular liposome local anesthetic that can be utilized in the peri- or postsurgical setting. By utilizing the multivesicular liposome platform, a single dose of EXPAREL delivers bupivacaine over time, providing significant reductions in cumulative pain scores with up to a 78 percent decrease in opioid consumption; the clinical benefit of the opioid reduction was not demonstrated. Additional information is available at www.EXPAREL.com.
Important Safety Information about EXPAREL for Patients
EXPAREL should not be used in obstetrical paracervical block anesthesia. In studies in adults where EXPAREL was injected into a wound, the most common side effects were nausea, constipation, and vomiting. In studies in adults where EXPAREL was injected near a nerve, the most common side effects were nausea, fever, and constipation. In the study where EXPAREL was given to children, the most common side effects were nausea, vomiting, constipation, low blood pressure, low number of red blood cells, muscle twitching, blurred vision, itching, and rapid heartbeat. EXPAREL can cause a temporary loss of feeling and/or loss of muscle movement. How much and how long the loss of feeling and/or muscle movement depends on where and how much of EXPAREL was injected and may last for up to 5 days. EXPAREL is not recommended to be used in patients younger than 6 years old for injection into the wound, for patients younger than 18 years old, for injection near a nerve, and/or in pregnant women. Tell your health care provider if you or your child has liver disease, since this may affect how the active ingredient (bupivacaine) in EXPAREL is eliminated from the body. EXPAREL should not be injected into the spine, joints, or veins. The active ingredient in EXPAREL can affect the nervous system and the cardiovascular system; may cause an allergic reaction; may cause damage if injected into the joints; and can cause a rare blood disorder.
Pacira BioSciences Reports Inducement Grants Under Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635(c)(4)
Today, Pacira announced the granting of inducement awards on October 2, 2026 to two new employees under Pacira’s Amended and Restated 2014 Inducement Plan (the “Inducement Plan”) as a material inducement to each employee’s entry into employment with the company. In accordance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635(c)(4), the awards were approved by the People & Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors (the “Committee”) without stockholder approval.
The two employees received stock options to purchase an aggregate of 3,600 shares of Pacira common stock and restricted stock units for an aggregate of 4,200 shares of Pacira common stock. The stock options have a 10-year term and a four-year vesting schedule with 25 percent of the underlying shares vesting on the first anniversary of the recipient’s first day of employment and in successive equal quarterly installments over the 36 months thereafter. The stock options have an exercise price of $25.21 per share, the closing trading price of Pacira common stock on the Nasdaq Global Select Market on the date of grant. Each restricted stock unit represents the contingent right to receive one share of Pacira common stock and the restricted stock unit awards vest annually in four equal installments beginning on October 1, 2027.
Vesting of the equity awards is subject to the employee’s continued employment with Pacira. Each equity award is also subject to the terms and conditions of an award agreement.
Investor Contact
Susan Mesco, (973) 451-4030 susan.mesco@pacira.com
Media Contact
Kim Hamilton, (908) 721-7067 kim.hamilton@pacira.com
Summary
– Expands patient access to opioid-sparing pain control and advances 5x30 strategy –