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Investing.com -- Shares of Pacira BioSciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCRX) leaped 15% following the announcement of a settlement in U.S. patent litigation concerning its flagship product, EXPAREL. The agreement effectively protects the company's commercial exclusivity for the non-opioid pain therapy until a confidential date in 2030, with further provisions extending to 2039.
Pacira, a leader in non-opioid pain management, reached a settlement with Fresenius Kabi USA, Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals, and eVenus Pharmaceuticals Laboratories regarding patent disputes for EXPAREL, a bupivacaine liposome injectable suspension. As part of the settlement, Fresenius Kabi is granted the license to sell volume-limited amounts of a generic version of the drug starting in the early 2030s and without volume limitations starting in 2039, prior to the expiration of the patents-in-suit.
The consent judgments to be filed with the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the United States District Courts for the District of New Jersey and the Northern District of Illinois will enjoin Fresenius from marketing the generic product before the agreed-upon dates, except as outlined in the settlement.
The financial terms, including the volume-limited percentages and the specific early entry date in 2030, remain confidential. However, the agreement stipulates a gradual increase in the permitted generic volume, starting with a high-single-digit percentage and eventually reaching a maximum in the high thirties of the total volumes distributed in the U.S. by the end of the agreement.
This settlement assures Pacira's control over the market for EXPAREL well into the next decade, providing investors with a clearer long-term outlook for the company's revenue stream. The protection of EXPAREL's market exclusivity is a significant win for Pacira, as the drug is central to the company's portfolio of non-opioid pain management therapies.
The market's positive response to the news reflects confidence in Pacira's ability to maintain its competitive edge in the pain management space, with the stock's significant rise underscoring the importance of patent protection in the pharmaceutical industry.
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