Overview:
Pacira BioSciences reported $168.9 million in sales and about $2 million in operating profit for the Q1:2025.
Pacira BioSciences, Inc. reported $168.9 million in sales and about $2 million in operating profit for the quarter ending March 31, 2025, which was below analysts’ estimates.
Strategically, Pacira Continues to Drive #1 MSK Non-Opiod Pain Company Position
Pacira BioSciences’ leadership team, Frank Lee, Chief Executive Officer; Jonathan Slonan, Chief Medical Officer; and Sean Krop, Chief Financial Officer Tony Molloy, Chief Legal and Compliance Officer and Brandon Teehan, Chief Commercial Officer, reported on the company’s first quarter 2025 earnings in a recent call.
Lee started off the call reminding analysts of the company’s key strategic initiatives—namely finding a way to grow the core business more than 1% year-over-year (YOY) and keep moving the pipeline of innovative technologies like PCRX-201 forward.
“In just a few short months, we’ve achieved early and meaningful 5 by 30 milestones. With respect to growing our commercial base business, we successfully settled our patent infringement litigation for EXPAREL.”
He added, “This will benefit EXPAREL gross margins by low-single-digit percentage. As for the pipeline, here too, we saw strong progress. First, we added a novel platform, a preclinical portfolio, and a talented research team with the acquisition of GQ Bio. Second, multiple new PCRX tools and datasets are heading out this year. The new data continues to underscore the promise and disease modifying potential of PCRX201 and the HCAD platform. Finally, patient dosing is officially underway in our phase two ASCEND study of PCRX201 in osteoarthritis of the knee.”
Krop then reported that first quarter EXPAREL sales increased to $136.5 million versus $132.4 for the same three months in 2024. Increase came from volume growth, not pricing. First quarter ZILRETTA sales, however, declined to $23.3 million versus $25.8 million for Q1 2024. Much of the decline was attributed to transitions in the sales force.
Krop added that management was reiterating earlier sales guidance for the year of $725 million to $765 million.
Analysts Ask About Surgery Volumes and Progress on EXPAREL’s NOPAIN Initiative
An analyst for RBC Capital Markets asked for more clarifications on which the proportion of patients in each surgical segments would EXPAREL’s NOPAIN be applicable for.
Teehan said, “As you would suspect, there is a little bit of a difference between inpatient and outpatient. We have more commercial coverage in the inpatient segment, a little over 50%. But in the outpatient setting in hospitals, it skews a little bit more towards the Medicare side. And then for ambulatory surgery centers, it’s principally commercial. Almost, two third to three quarters of our business would be found, commercially covered in ambulatory surgery centers.”
Serge Belanger from Needham asked, “Just regarding surgery volumes, can you just give us a little color on what you’re seeing so far first quarter and, I guess, the first month of the second quarter and if the macros impacted those volumes?”
Lee said, “Right now, we don’t see any new competition that’s significant. So, we have a lot of room to grow. There’s largely the bupivacaine, short acting bupivacaine, and the various cocktails that are out there, pumps, etcetera. But all that said, we really think we have a lot of room for penetration going forward. So that’s what I’ll say to that. Nothing has changed with respect to the competition and intensity.”
