With an internal non-opioid program nearing approval, Viatris is picking up Pacira BioSciences for a broader pain portfolio and the associated commercial infrastructure.
While awaiting a decision from the FDA on its novel non-opioid pain treatment, Viatris has agreed to buy Pacira BioSciences for $1.65 billion to accelerate its expansion into non-opioid pain therapy.
Pacira sells Exparel and Zilretta, pain treatments that generated sales of $587 million and $121 million, respectively, in the second half of 2025 and the first half of this year. Exparel, approved in 2011, is an injectable bupivacaine formulation used for post-surgical pain, while Zilretta, which hit the market in 2017, is an injectable corticosteroid indicated for management of osteoarthritis pain of the knee.
As well as buying the drugs, Viatris will acquire the 340-person team that Pacira built to commercialize the medicines, the company said in its Thursday announcement. The products and commercial infrastructure could accelerate Viatris’ efforts to establish a non-opioid pain relief franchise.
“We like the fit,” Oppenheimer analysts wrote of the deal in a Thursday investor note. “We view the deal as strategically sound and fairly priced. . . . We view the deal as a positive for both companies.”
Viatris has filed for FDA approval of a non-opioid treatment for moderate-to-severe acute pain. The FDA is scheduled to rule on the filing by Dec. 27. Viatris sees its product, a fast-acting meloxicam (FAM) formulation, serving the at-home market, while Exparel and Zilretta cater to inpatients and outpatients, respectively.
Despite the difference, the same post-surgical and high-volume acute pain specialists will prescribe all three drugs, Viatris said. The company is aiming to generate revenue synergies for FAM—for which it projects peak sales of up to $500 million, according to Oppenheimer—while also realizing more than $50 million in cost synergies by the end of 2028. Establishing U.S. commercial infrastructure will enable an “opportunistic approach” to future business development, Viatris said.
“Exparel during surgery and FAM after surgery could be offered as one opioid-sparing package (if on FAM’s label),” Oppenheimer wrote. “We see this as the main revenue synergy ahead of FAM PDUFA 12/27/26.”
Pacira currently generates 100% of its sales in the U.S. Viatris plans to expand into “select” international markets. Pacira has initiated efforts to expand globally, including by partnering with LG Chem to bring Exparel to the Asia-Pacific markets.
Viatris is buying Exparel and Zilretta despite looming generic competition. Pacira settled litigation with three companies last year, agreeing to allow some U.S. production of generic Exparel starting in early 2030, and it is in litigation with two other drugmakers that want to launch generic copies of the drug. Zilretta’s composition of matter patent expires in 2031. Pacira argued in its 2025 annual report that its “extensive know-how and trade secrets . . . represent a meaningful entry barrier.”
The know-how and trade secrets could form part of a broader effort to delay and slow the erosion of Exparel and Zilretta sales. Viatris plans to use its “intellectual property expertise and proven ability to extend product lifecycles and sustain meaningful sales after the entry of competition,” according to this week’s release.
Viatris is paying $36.50 per share in cash to buy Pacira. The stock closed at $25.20 the day before the deal was announced. Viatris expects to close the takeover by the end of the year.
