Generic drugmaker Viatris is beefing up its pain medicine portfolio with a $1.65 billion deal to buy Pacira BioSciences and get its hands on two high-margin non-opioid pain therapies.
Per the deal, Pacira—which brought in $746 million in total revenue over the last 12 months—will sell all of its outstanding shares to Viatris for $36.50 a share, an aggregate equity value of $1.65 billion.
Pacira brings to the deal its non-opioid pain therapy pipeline and two patent-protected high-margin meds: Exparel, a bupivacaine liposome injectable suspension prescribed for post-surgery acute pain, and Zilretta, a triamcinolone acetonide extended-release injectable suspension for arthritic knee pain.
Viatris said in a statement that the two medicines pair nicely with its investigational fast-acting meloxicam, a non-opioid oral pain medicine currently under FDA with a December 27, 2026 PDUFA date.
Together the three therapies, “position us as a leader in non-opioid pain management therapies,” said Scott Smith, CEO of Viatris, in a release. Additionally, the pending acquisition “is an important step in advancing our strategy to build our innovative medicines business...and adds an innovative development pipeline in certain high-value, specialty-driven therapeutic areas with a high unmet need,” he said.
Viatris will fund the transaction largely with excess cash and some short-term borrowing, according to it’s interim CFO Paul Campbell. “As such, we expect the transaction will have minimal impact on our gross leverage ratio.”
The company said it plans to leverage its global infrastructure and experience extending product life cycles to maximize the long-term value of Pacira’s portfolio, according to a release on the deal.
The Pacira buyout comes amid a major shift for Viatris. Following opioid settlements in 2025, generic competition and manufacturing woes that include a fire in India earlier this year, Viatris announced a major restructure.
The overhaul—which will affect R&D and commercial teams, among others—will take three years, cut 10% of the company’s 32,000-person workforce and cost between $700 million and $850 million. Once complete, the changes should save the company up to $700 million annually.