Pacira to Buy Flexion, Boosting Pain Management Portfolio

Pacira BioSciences will pay close to $427.5 million to buy pain management company Flexion Therapeutics, maker of Zilretta, a nonopioid injection approved in 2017 for chronic osteoarthritis.

Flexion makes novel, local nonopioid therapies for the treatment of patients with musculoskeletal conditions, including osteoarthritis, postsurgical pain and low back pain. Zilretta (triamcinolone acetonide extended-release injectable suspension) is the first and only FDA-approved treatment for osteoarthritis knee pain that uses extended-release microsphere technology, the companies said.

The deal involves multiple milestones, including the initiation of a phase 3 trial of Zilretta in shoulder osteoarthritis and the advancement of phase 1 studies of FX201 for musculoskeletal pain, including osteoarthritis, and FX301 as a lower-extremity nerve block for postsurgical pain.