Pacira BioSciences, Inc. (PCRX)

Viatris Inc. agreed on 8 October 2026 to acquire Pacira for $36.50 in cash for each share, an aggregate equity value of $1.65 billion, and both boards approved the deal unanimously 2.

Viatris began the tender offer on 30 October 2026, and it is set to expire late on 16 November 2026 unless extended 4.

The antitrust waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ended late on 29 October 2026 4. The offer also needs at least one share more than 50 percent of all shares tendered 1.

Viatris first offered $31.00 a share on 17 July 2026, and the final terms followed Pacira's counteroffer of $36.50 on 5 October 2026, all in cash with no contingent payment 4. Pacira's board listed activist campaigns that cost time and money among the risks of staying independent 4.

The last results on file are for the second quarter of 2026: revenue of $192.4 million, up 6 percent, with EXPAREL, the larger product, at $147.8 million 6. On 31 July 2026 Pacira closed the sale of its iovera device business to Zimmer for $73.6 million in cash 5.

Viatris says it expects the deal to close by the end of 2026, after which Pacira would leave the Nasdaq as a wholly owned subsidiary 2.

Pacira was incorporated in Delaware in December 2006 as Blue Acquisition Corp. and bought its operating company, Pacira Pharmaceuticals, from SkyePharma in March 2007 8.

Its first big product, EXPAREL, launched in the United States in April 2012 5. It is the numbing drug bupivacaine built on a liposome delivery technology that releases the drug over a desired period of time after surgery 5.

Pacira acquired MyoScience in April 2019 and Flexion Therapeutics in November 2021, and ZILRETTA joined the portfolio through the Flexion deal 85.

Revenue rose each year of the latest three, from $675.0 million in 2023 to $701.0 million in 2024 and $726.4 million in 2025 8. In 2025 EXPAREL revenue grew 5 percent on a 6 percent rise in gross vial volume, while a lower net selling price per unit, driven by group purchasing organization contracts, held growth back 8.

In 2024 the FDA approved a generic competitor to EXPAREL, and a federal court ruled in August 2024 that one EXPAREL patent was not valid 8. Pacira then wrote down $163.2 million of goodwill, the extra amount paid in past purchases, and ended 2024 with a net loss of $99.6 million 8.

The April 2025 settlement with the generic maker eVenus lets eVenus sell a limited share of generic volume from a confidential date in early 2030 and unlimited volume from a confidential date in 2039 5.

In January 2025 the company launched a plan called 5x30 with five goals for 2030 8. In February 2025 it bought the rest of GQ Bio, a gene therapy company 5.

Oppenheimer analyst Les Sulewski said, as Reuters reported, that activist pressure on Pacira had persisted since November 2025 3. At the 9 June 2026 annual meeting, the company's three director nominees drew more votes in favor than the three put forward by DOMA Perpetual Capital Management 10.

After the iovera sale the chief executive said in the second-quarter release that the move further sharpened the company's focus as an innovation-driven biopharmaceutical company 6.

In 2025 research and development rose to $117.3 million from $81.6 million in 2024, and selling, general and administrative costs rose to $368.8 million from $294.1 million 8. Income from operations was $19.2 million in 2025 after an operating loss of $73.4 million in 2024 8.

In June 2026 Pacira agreed to sell its iovera business to Zimmer for up to $140.0 million, including $70.0 million upfront, and closed the sale on 31 July 2026 75.

EXPAREL

EXPAREL is Pacira's flagship, a long-acting numbing injection that the surgeon places at the surgical site to control pain after an operation without an opioid 5. Reuters reported net sales of $575.1 million in 2025 3.

In the second quarter of 2026 EXPAREL sales rose 3 percent as volume grew 4 percent, partly offset by a shift in vial mix and wider group purchasing discounts 6. The company guides to $600 million to $620 million of EXPAREL net sales for 2026 6.

In July 2026 UnitedHealthcare began paying for EXPAREL separately in outpatient settings, which the company says brings about 150 million covered lives under separate reimbursement 5. Its named rivals include an oral non-opioid pain pill with suzetrigine, elastomeric pumps and compounded drug cocktails 8.

ZILRETTA

ZILRETTA is a single-shot, extended-release steroid injected into the knee to ease osteoarthritis pain, approved by the FDA in October 2017 5. Reuters reported net sales of $116.6 million in 2025 3. Quarterly sales were $32.6 million in the second quarter of 2026, up 4 percent 6.

The company says ZILRETTA competes with immediate-release steroids, hyaluronic acid products, and stem cell and platelet-rich plasma injections 8. A Phase 3 study of ZILRETTA for shoulder osteoarthritis finished enrolling in April 2026 5.

iovera and the smaller lines

iovera is a handheld device that numbs a nerve with cold 5. It was sold to Zimmer on 31 July 2026, and its second-quarter sales were $6.8 million 5. Zimmer hired 66 employees, about 8 percent of Pacira's workforce 7.

Pacira also sells bupivacaine liposome to licensees for veterinary use, which brought $3.2 million in the second quarter of 2026, and earned $1.9 million in royalties in that quarter 5.

The pipeline

PCRX-201 is a gene therapy for knee osteoarthritis from the GQ Bio platform, and PCRX-2002 is a long-acting form of ropivacaine for postsurgical pain 5. Both are in Phase 2, and enrollment in Part A of the ASCEND study ended in June 2026 5.

Plants, people and customers

EXPAREL is made at the company's Science Center Campus in San Diego, about 195,000 square feet across three buildings, and at a Thermo Fisher site in Swindon, United Kingdom 8. Finished doses of both main products are made by a contract manufacturer in the United Kingdom 5.

Pacira had 829 employees on 31 December 2025 8. Frank D Lee is chief executive and Shawn M Cross is chief financial officer 4. The three largest wholesalers bought 76 percent of revenue in the second quarter of 2026 5.

Rivals and current problems

In October 2025 two Chinese generic makers, WhiteOak and Qilu, told Pacira they had filed applications to sell a generic EXPAREL 5. Pacira sued them in November 2025 8.

The Section 232 tariff order of 2 April 2026 sets a 10 percent tariff on products imported from the United Kingdom, and the company expects tariffs to hurt gross margin 5. During talks Viatris cited a third-party manufacturing site for EXPAREL and ZILRETTA as a perceived risk 4.

The umbrella, in words

Pacira BioSciences is a holding company whose California operating subsidiary is Pacira Pharmaceuticals, Inc. 8. Its annual report lists eight subsidiaries across the United States, Belgium, Germany, Ireland and the United Kingdom 9.

Pacira owns GQ Bio Therapeutics GmbH, the German gene therapy company it bought in full in February 2025 5. It agreed with LG Chem in January 2026 to widen access to EXPAREL in select Asian-Pacific markets 8. The iovera business, held in Pacira CryoTech, now belongs to Zimmer 7.

Its San Diego manufacturing and research leases run to June 2030 and the Brisbane, California headquarters lease runs to June 2036 8. It has issued one class of common stock and no preferred stock 5.

Viatris expects the tender offer to close by the end of 2026 2. Pacira would pay Viatris a termination fee of $62.0 million if it ended the agreement in specified cases, such as to accept a superior offer 1.

Viatris said it expects to fund the purchase primarily from excess cash, with the rest from short-term borrowings 2. After the offer, the merger would follow without a stockholder vote under Delaware law, according to the filing 1.

Viatris reports its third-quarter 2026 results on 5 November 2026 and will discuss the Pacira deal on the call 2. Reuters reported that the FDA is expected to decide by 27 December whether to approve Viatris' fast-acting meloxicam for acute pain 3.

For 2026 Pacira guided in August to total revenue of $735 million to $760 million, non-GAAP gross margin of 77 percent to 79 percent and non-GAAP research spending of $105 million to $115 million 6. The revenue range was cut from $745 million to $770 million to remove iovera after the sale 6.

Pacira said topline data from Part A of the ASCEND gene therapy study is expected by the end of 2026 6. The 5x30 plan targets more than three million patients a year by 2030 8. It also targets double-digit annual growth in product revenue and at least five clinical programs 8.

From the sale of iovera, Pacira can earn up to $70.0 million more if iovera revenue reaches set levels in any year from 2027 through 2031 7. Under the eVenus settlement, limited generic sales may begin in early 2030 5.

Pacira said a pediatric registration program for EXPAREL in children under six years is under way 5. If the shoulder study succeeds, the company plans to seek a ZILRETTA label for shoulder osteoarthritis 5.