PCRX
Pacira BiosciencesBDocument history
Earnings documents stored for PCRX.
Investor releaseQuarter not tagged2026-05-14Pacira BioSciences' (NASDAQ:PCRX) Performance Is Even Better Than Its Earnings Suggest
Simply Wall St.
Pacira BioSciences' (NASDAQ:PCRX) Performance Is Even Better Than Its Earnings Suggest
The subdued stock price reaction suggests that Pacira BioSciences, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:PCRX) strong earnings didn't offer any surprises. Investors are probably missing some underlying factors which are encouraging for the future of the company. This technology could replace computers: discover the 20 stocks are working to make quantum computing a reality. As finance nerds would already know, the accrual ratio from cashflow is a key measure for assessing how well a company's free cash flow (FCF) matches its profit. In plain english, this ratio subtracts FCF from net profit, and divides that number by the company's average operating assets over that period. This ratio tells us how much of a company's profit is not backed by free cashflow. Therefore, it's actually considered a good thing when a company has a negative accrual ratio, but a bad thing if its accrual ratio is positive. That is not intended to imply we should worry about a positive accrual ratio, but it's worth noting where the accrual ratio is rather high. That's because some academic studies have suggested that high accruals ratios tend to lead to lower profit or less profit growth. Pacira BioSciences has an accrual ratio of -0.15 for the year to March 2026. That indicates that its free cash flow quite significantly exceeded its statutory profit. In fact, it had free cash flow of US$133m in the last year, which was a lot more than its statutory profit of US$5.14m. Pacira BioSciences did see its free cash flow drop year on year, which is less than ideal, like a Simpson's episode without Groundskeeper Willie. Having said that, there is more to the story. The accrual ratio is reflecting the impact of unusual items on statutory profit, at least in part. See our latest analysis for Pacira BioSciences That might leave you wondering what analysts are forecasting in terms of future profitability. Luckily, you can click here to see an interactive graph depicting future profitability, based on their estimates. Pacira BioSciences' profit was reduced by unusual items worth US$7.0m in the last twelve months, and this helped it produce high cash conversion, as reflected by its unusual items. This is what you'd expect to see where a company has a non-cash charge reducing paper profits. While deductions due to unusual items are disappointing in the first instance, there is a silver lining. When we analysed the vast maj...
Investor releaseQuarter not tagged2026-05-03Assessing Pacira BioSciences (PCRX) Valuation After Earnings Update And New EXPAREL Real World Data
Simply Wall St.
Assessing Pacira BioSciences (PCRX) Valuation After Earnings Update And New EXPAREL Real World Data
Track your investments for FREE with Simply Wall St, the portfolio command center trusted by over 7 million individual investors worldwide. Pacira BioSciences (PCRX) has just combined a fresh set of quarterly numbers with new real world data on its lead non opioid pain drug, EXPAREL. Together, these developments give you several angles to assess the stock. See our latest analysis for Pacira BioSciences. The fresh EXPAREL study and first quarter update arrive as Pacira’s 30 day share price return of 7.67% and 90 day gain of 15.17% contrast with a 1 year total shareholder return decline of 7.60%. This signals improving short term momentum against weaker longer term results. If you are weighing Pacira’s setup against other healthcare names using AI in care pathways, this is a good moment to scan a focused list of 33 healthcare AI stocks With Pacira shares sitting about 20% below the average analyst price target and carrying a mid range value score, is the recent EXPAREL data and revenue growth underappreciated, or is the market already pricing in future gains? Pacira’s most followed narrative anchors on a fair value of $38 against a last close of $24.44, framing the stock as materially discounted by that lens. Read the complete narrative. Curious what kind of revenue curve and margin reset sit behind that optimism? The narrative leans on compounding top line growth, rising profitability, and a leaner share count to back the $38 figure. Result: Fair Value of $38 (UNDERVALUED) Have a read of the narrative in full and understand what's behind the forecasts. However, you also need to weigh the risk that heavier regulatory and reimbursement pressure, or faster than expected competitor gains, could cap pricing power and limit future earnings progress. Find out about the key risks to this Pacira BioSciences narrative. Looking at this mix of optimism and concern, it makes sense to move quickly and test the story against your own view using the full set of 4 key rewards and 1 important warning sign 4 key rewards and 1 important warning sign If you stop your research with a single stock, you could miss out on stronger income, resilience, or upside hiding elsewhere. Give yourself more options with a quick, focused screen. Target steady cash payouts by scanning a curated set of income names through the 13 dividend fortresses. Hunt for mispriced opportunities with solid fun...
Investor releaseQuarter not tagged2026-05-02Pacira Q1 Earnings Miss Estimates on Higher Costs, Revenues Rise Y/Y
Zacks
Pacira Q1 Earnings Miss Estimates on Higher Costs, Revenues Rise Y/Y
Pacira BioSciences PCRX posted first-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of 60 cents per share, which declined 3.2% year over year and marginally missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 61 cents. Revenues came in at $177.4 million, which rose 5% from the year-ago quarter and beat the consensus mark of $176 million. Top-line growth was supported by momentum across the commercial portfolio, highlighted by continued demand for Exparel and incremental revenues from Zilretta and iovera sales. Exparel volume growth was approximately 7% in the quarter. PCRX generated $177.4 million in total revenues for the quarter, driven entirely by product sales. Exparel remained the largest contributor, with net product sales of $143.3 million, up 5% from the prior-year period. The reported figure, however, missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $146.3 million. Management attributed Exparel’s performance to ongoing growth in outpatient settings and expanding access, while noting headwinds from vial-mix shifts, higher discounting tied to a newer group purchasing organization partnership and returns related to a major winter storm earlier in the quarter. Exparel (bupivacaine liposome injectable suspension) is indicated in patients aged six years and older for single-dose infiltration to produce postsurgical local analgesia. It is also indicated for regional analgesia in adults via an interscalene brachial plexus nerve block, sciatic nerve block in the popliteal fossa and femoral nerve block in the adductor canal. Pacira continued to show improving traction beyond Exparel. Zilretta net product sales increased 15% year over year to $26.8 million, reflecting benefits from commercial investments made last year, including a dedicated sales force and broader promotional reach through a collaboration with Johnson & Johnson MedTech. The reported figure, however, missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $28.6 million. iovera net product sales rose 21% to $6.2 million. The company pointed to execution gains from a dedicated iovera sales force and the rollout of a product-specific reimbursement code, which is intended to support smoother adoption in targeted accounts. The figure beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $5.7 million. Pacira generated revenues of $1.2 million from the sales of bupivacaine liposome injectable suspension to third-party licenses in the fourth quarter compared with $2.6 mill...
Investor releaseQuarter not tagged2026-05-01Pacira (PCRX) Q1 Earnings Miss Estimates
Zacks
Pacira (PCRX) Q1 Earnings Miss Estimates
Pacira (PCRX) came out with quarterly earnings of $0.6 per share, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.61 per share. This compares to earnings of $0.62 per share a year ago. These figures are adjusted for non-recurring items. This quarterly report represents an earnings surprise of -1.64%. A quarter ago, it was expected that this specialty drugmaker would post earnings of $0.85 per share when it actually produced earnings of $0.57, delivering a surprise of -32.94%. Over the last four quarters, the company has surpassed consensus EPS estimates two times. Pacira, which belongs to the Zacks Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry, posted revenues of $177.38 million for the quarter ended March 2026, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.58%. This compares to year-ago revenues of $168.92 million. The company has topped consensus revenue estimates just once over the last four quarters. The sustainability of the stock's immediate price movement based on the recently-released numbers and future earnings expectations will mostly depend on management's commentary on the earnings call. Pacira shares have lost about 2.9% since the beginning of the year versus the S&P 500's gain of 4.2%. While Pacira has underperformed the market so far this year, the question that comes to investors' minds is: what's next for the stock? There are no easy answers to this key question, but one reliable measure that can help investors address this is the company's earnings outlook. Not only does this include current consensus earnings expectations for the coming quarter(s), but also how these expectations have changed lately. Empirical research shows a strong correlation between near-term stock movements and trends in earnings estimate revisions. Investors can track such revisions by themselves or rely on a tried-and-tested rating tool like the Zacks Rank, which has an impressive track record of harnessing the power of earnings estimate revisions. Ahead of this earnings release, the estimate revisions trend for Pacira was mixed. While the magnitude and direction of estimate revisions could change following the company's just-released earnings report, the current status translates into a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) for the stock. So, the shares are expected to perform in line with the market in the near future. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) sto...
Investor releaseQuarter not tagged2026-05-01Pacira BioSciences Reports First Quarter 2026 Financial Results
GlobeNewswire
Pacira BioSciences Reports First Quarter 2026 Financial Results
-- Total revenue of $177 million, reflecting increase of 5 percent over first quarter 2025 driven by growth across commercial portfolio, including EXPAREL volume growth of 7 percent -- -- Completed enrollment in Phase 3 registrational study of ZILRETTA in osteoarthritis pain of the shoulder; study on track for topline readout by end of year -- -- Conference call today at 4:30 p.m. ET -- BRISBANE, Calif., April 30, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pacira BioSciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: PCRX), the industry leader in its commitment to deliver innovative, non-opioid pain therapies to transform the lives of patients, today reported financial results for the first quarter of 2026. “Pacira entered 2026 with strong momentum as our 5x30 strategy continues to generate clear and measurable results,” said Frank D. Lee, chief executive officer of Pacira BioSciences. “In the first quarter, we delivered solid topline performance, highlighted by renewed growth across our commercial portfolio. This performance is fueled by a powerful combination of expanding market access, growing awareness and adoption, and mounting real world evidence, all of which are reinforcing each other.” “Importantly, we are now entering a data-rich period, with key readouts this year expected from Part A of our Phase 2 study of PCRX-201 in knee osteoarthritis, as well as our registrational studies for ZILRETTA in shoulder osteoarthritis and iovera° in spasticity. As we move through 2026, we will continue to execute our 5x30 strategy to drive durable revenue growth, deliver clinical innovation, and create long-term value for patients and shareholders into and beyond 2030,” continued Mr. Lee. First Quarter 2026 Financial Highlights First quarter revenues of $177.4 million First quarter GAAP net income of $2.9 million, or $0.07 per share (basic and diluted) First quarter adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of $40.2 million First quarter non-GAAP net income of $24.5 million, or $0.60 per share (basic and diluted) Repurchased 2.2 million shares of common stock at an average price of $22.28 per share, for a cost of $50.0 million See “Non-GAAP Financial Information” below. Recent Business Highlights Patient Enrollment Concluded in Phase 3 Registration Study Evaluating Safety and Efficacy of ZILRETTA for the Treatment of Shoulder Osteoarthritis. In April 2026, the company con...
Investor releaseQuarter not tagged2026-05-01Pacira BioSciences Q1 Earnings Call Highlights
MarketBeat
Pacira BioSciences Q1 Earnings Call Highlights
EXPAREL net sales rose to $143.3M (vs. $136.5M a year ago) with ~7% volume growth, aided by reimbursement wins (NOPAIN Act, new product J‑code), expanded coverage (> 110M lives) and an enlarged IP estate now listing 21 Orange Book patents. Zilretta and iovera delivered double‑digit gains (Zilretta $26.8M, +15%; iovera $6.2M, +21%), and Pacira has a Phase III shoulder‑OA study fully enrolled with top‑line results expected later this year while an iovera spasticity readout is due by year‑end. Pipeline milestones include Phase II ASCEND top‑line data for PCRX‑201 later in 2026 and a planned Phase II for PCRX‑2002; financially Pacira reported adjusted EBITDA of ~$40.2M, $202M in cash and investments, repurchased $50M of stock this quarter, and reiterated 2026 guidance (total revenues $745–770M, EXPAREL $600–620M). Interested in Pacira BioSciences, Inc.? Here are five stocks we like better. Pacira BioSciences (NASDAQ:PCRX) reported first-quarter 2026 results that management said reflect continued momentum under its “5x30” strategy, highlighted by year-over-year growth across its three commercial products and reiterated full-year guidance. Chief Executive Officer Frank D. Lee said the company’s 5x30 plan, introduced a little more than a year ago, is designed to drive progress across five goals—patients served, product revenue, profitability, pipeline, and partnerships—through 2030 and beyond. “I’m pleased with our first quarter results,” Lee said, adding that the company is seeing “clear” progress across all five areas. → Corning Beats Q1 Estimates but Drops 9% on Guidance Miss Pacira’s flagship product, EXPAREL, generated first-quarter net sales of $143.3 million, up from $136.5 million in the prior-year quarter, according to Chief Financial Officer Shawn Cross. Cross said volume growth of approximately 7% was “partially offset” by a shift in vial mix and discounting tied to a third group purchasing organization (GPO) that went live last year. He also said winter storms disrupted shipping and triggered returns during the quarter. Lee pointed to several factors he said are strengthening the durability of the EXPAREL franchise, including Medicare coverage outside the surgical bundle following implementation of the NOPAIN Act at the start of 2025, as well as a new product-specific J-code that management said supports streamlined billing and reimbursement. → Did Qual...
Investor releaseQuarter not tagged2026-05-01Pacira BioSciences' CFO Sold 12,941 Shares for $326,000 Before Its Q1 Earnings Release
Motley Fool
Pacira BioSciences' CFO Sold 12,941 Shares for $326,000 Before Its Q1 Earnings Release
Shawn Cross, Chief Financial Officer of Pacira BioSciences (NASDAQ:PCRX), reported the exercise and immediate sale of 12,941 shares of common stock for a transaction value of approximately $326,000, according to the SEC Form 4 filing. Transaction value based on SEC Form 4 weighted average purchase price ($25.16); post-transaction value based on April 23, 2026 market close. How does this transaction impact Shawn Cross' direct ownership in Pacira BioSciences? Following the sale, Cross' direct common stock holdings declined by 10.94%, with 105,341 shares remaining, and no indirect ownership reported. What was the structure of the transaction, and what does it indicate about the insider's liquidity strategy? The transaction involved the exercise of 12,941 stock options and immediate sale of the resulting shares, suggesting pre-planned liquidity via derivative conversion rather than discretionary selling of previously held common stock. What is the capacity for future insider sales based on remaining holdings and options? Cross retains ~62.9% of his pre-transaction common shares, providing continued flexibility for future liquidity events. He also retains 150,000 stock options (direct), which can be converted to common stock. Is this sale consistent with Cross' prior trading activity or pattern? Recent filings show multiple sell transactions over the past five months, with this sale aligning with ongoing use of option exercises for scheduled liquidity. * 1-year price change calculated as of market close April 23, 2026. Pacira BioSciences generates revenue primarily from non-opioid pain management products, including Exparel (bupivacaine liposome injectable suspension), Zilretta (triamcinolone acetonide extended-release injectable suspension), and the iovera cryoanalgesia device. The company operates a specialty pharmaceutical model, developing and commercializing proprietary drug delivery technologies and products for acute and chronic pain management. Its main customers are healthcare practitioners and institutions in the United States, with a focus on hospitals, ambulatory surgical centers, and orthopedic clinics. Pacira BioSciences is a leading provider of non-opioid pain management solutions, leveraging proprietary multivesicular liposome technology to deliver innovative therapies. With a focus on hospital and surgical settings, the company addresses critical...
Investor releaseQuarter not tagged2026-05-01Pacira (PCRX) Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
Motley Fool
Pacira (PCRX) Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
Image source: The Motley Fool. Thursday, April 30, 2026 at 4:30 p.m. ET Chief Executive Officer — Frank Lee Chief Operating Officer — Brendan P. Teehan Chief Financial Officer — Shawn M. Cross Chief Medical Officer — Jonathan Slonin Vice President, Investor Relations — Susan Mesco Frank Lee: Good afternoon to everyone joining today's call. Just over a year ago, we introduced our Five by 30 strategy. This plan was designed to accelerate performance and position the company for sustainable growth and shareholder value creation. To remind you, Five by 30 was built to deliver measurable progress around five key goals: patients served, product revenue, profitability, pipeline, and partnerships. Collectively, we believe advancing these five goals will drive shareholder value into and well beyond 2030. Let me start by saying that I am pleased with our first quarter results and I would like to recognize our team for their remarkable efforts. Our solid first quarter results reinforce our confidence that Five by 30 is delivering its intended business results. We are on the right strategic path. One year into execution, our progress across all five goals is clear. This is reflected in our commercial performance, financial results, and pipeline advancements. I will start with our flagship product, EXPAREL. Since our founding, EXPAREL has been the cornerstone of Pacira BioSciences, Inc.’s leadership in opioid-sparing innovation for postsurgical pain. Thanks to the dedicated efforts of our team, EXPAREL is demonstrating renewed growth more than a decade after its initial launch. This is a rarity in the pharmaceutical industry and a clear testament to the strength of our commercial, medical, and market access organizations. The accelerating volume growth we delivered in 2025 has continued into 2026. This momentum reflects a combination of fundamental improvements that are strengthening the long-term durability of our franchise, including expanding coverage outside the surgical bundle for Medicare patients following implementation of the NOPAIN Act in 2025; a new product-specific J-code enabling streamlined billing and reimbursement; growing commercial payer coverage outside the surgical bundle, which Brendan will discuss in more detail shortly; increased awareness and adoption of non-opioid stewardship programs, as evidenced by encouraging market research results; and enha...
Investor releaseQuarter not tagged2026-05-01Pacira BioSciences Inc (PCRX) Q1 2026 Earnings Call Highlights: Strong Product Growth Amidst ...
GuruFocus.com
Pacira BioSciences Inc (PCRX) Q1 2026 Earnings Call Highlights: Strong Product Growth Amidst ...
This article first appeared on GuruFocus. EXPAREL Net Sales: $143.3 million, up from $136.5 million in 2025. ZILRETTA Sales: Increased by 15% to $26.8 million from $23.3 million in 2025. iovera Sales: Increased by 21% to $6.2 million from $5.1 million in 2025. Consolidated Non-GAAP Gross Margin: 80%, compared to 81% last year. Non-GAAP R&D Expense: $25.4 million, up from $23.1 million last year. Non-GAAP SG&A Expense: $83.9 million, compared to $76.2 million last year. Adjusted EBITDA: Approximately $40.2 million for the first quarter. Cash and Investments: $202 million at the end of the quarter. Share Repurchases: $50 million executed, retiring approximately 2.2 million shares. Full-Year Revenue Guidance: $745 million to $770 million. EXPAREL Net Product Sales Guidance: $600 million to $620 million. Non-GAAP Gross Margin Guidance: 77% to 79%. Non-GAAP R&D Expense Guidance: $105 million to $115 million. Non-GAAP SG&A Expense Guidance: $320 million to $340 million. Stock-Based Compensation Guidance: $54 million to $62 million. Depreciation Expense Guidance: Approximately $30 million for 2026. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 9 Warning Signs with PCRX. Is PCRX fairly valued? Test your thesis with our free DCF calculator. Release Date: April 30, 2026 For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript. Pacira BioSciences Inc (NASDAQ:PCRX) reported strong first-quarter results, indicating that their 5x30 strategy is delivering intended business results. EXPAREL, the company's flagship product, continues to demonstrate renewed growth, supported by expanded coverage and enhanced intellectual property protection. ZILRETTA and iovera have shown significant sales growth, with ZILRETTA sales increasing by 15% and iovera sales by 21% year-over-year. The company is advancing an innovative clinical stage pipeline, with promising assets like PCRX-201 for knee osteoarthritis and PCRX-2002 for post-surgical pain. Pacira BioSciences Inc (NASDAQ:PCRX) has strong partnerships with companies like Johnson & Johnson MedTech and LG Chem, which are expected to expand their commercial reach and drive revenue growth. First-quarter sales were impacted by winter storms, which disrupted shipping and triggered returns. The company's non-GAAP gross margin slightly decreased to 80% from 81% last year. There is uncertainty regarding the expirat...
Investor releaseQuarter not tagged2026-05-01Pacira Biosciences Q1 Non-GAAP Earnings Fall, Revenue Rises; 2026 Sales Forecast Maintained
MT Newswires
Pacira Biosciences Q1 Non-GAAP Earnings Fall, Revenue Rises; 2026 Sales Forecast Maintained
Pacira Biosciences (PCRX) reported Q1 non-GAAP earnings late Thursday of $0.60 per diluted share, do
Investor releaseQuarter not tagged2026-05-01Pacira BioSciences, Inc. Q1 2026 Earnings Call Summary
Moby
Pacira BioSciences, Inc. Q1 2026 Earnings Call Summary
The 'Five by 30' strategy is delivering measurable progress across patients served, product revenue, profitability, pipeline, and partnerships. EXPAREL volume growth is accelerating due to fundamental improvements including NOPAIN Act implementation and a new product-specific J-code for streamlined reimbursement. ZILRETTA and ioverao are benefiting from last year's strategic pivot to dedicated sales forces and expanded promotional reach via the Johnson & Johnson MedTech collaboration. Management has significantly strengthened EXPAREL's intellectual property, expanding from a single litigated patent to 21 Orange Book-listed patents across two families. The company is prioritizing mechanistically de-risked pipeline assets, specifically targeting locally administered therapies that offer superior durability over systemic alternatives. Strategic partnerships, such as those with LG Chem and J&J MedTech, are being utilized to access untapped U.S. and international markets without heavy infrastructure investment. Full-year 2026 revenue guidance is reiterated at $745 million to $770 million, assuming historical quarterly patterns for the remainder of the year. Top-line data readouts for ZILRETTA in shoulder OA and ioverao in spasticity are expected by year-end, potentially opening significant new labeled indications. PCRX201 gene therapy is on track for Phase 2 Part A top-line data later this year, with Part B initiation planned for midyear following manufacturing scale-up. R&D spending is projected to peak in Q2 due to the initiation of PCRX201 Part B and EXPAREL development efforts before declining in the second half. Gross margins are expected to be slightly lower in Q4 due to the sale of higher-cost inventory and planned manufacturing shutdown-related expenses. First quarter EXPAREL revenue growth was partially tempered by a shift in vial mix and increased discounting from a third GPO agreement. Winter storms in Q1 disrupted shipping and triggered product returns, though management believes these impacts are now largely resolved. The company executed $50 million in share repurchases during Q1, retiring 2.2 million shares as part of a disciplined capital return strategy. SG&A expenses in the first half of 2026 are expected to be elevated relative to the second half due to costs associated with proxy-related activities. Our analysts just identified a stock with th...
TranscriptFY2026 Q12026-04-30FY2026 Q1 earnings call transcript
Earnings source - 64 paragraphs
FY2026 Q1 earnings call transcript
Good day and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Q1 2026 Pacira BioSciences, Inc. earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. After the speaker's presentation, there will be a question-and-answer session. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to your first speaker today, Susan Mesco, Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.
Thank you. Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to today's conference call to discuss our first quarter 2026 financial results. Joining me are Frank Lee, Chief Executive Officer, Brendan Teehan, Chief Commercial Officer, and Shawn Cross, Chief Financial Officer. Kristen Williams, Chief Administrative Officer and Secretary, Tony Molloy, Chief Legal Officer, and Jonathan Slonin, Chief Medical Officer, are also here for today's question and answer session. Before we begin, let me remind you that this call will include forward-looking statements subject to the safe harbor provisions of federal securities laws. Such statements represent our judgment as of today and may involve risks and uncertainties. This may cause our actual results, performance, or achievements to differ materially. For information concerning risk factors that could affect the company, please refer to our filings with the SEC or the pacira website.
Lastly, as a reminder, we will be discussing non-GAAP financial measures on today's call. A description of these metrics, along with our reconciliation to GAAP, can be found in the news release issued this afternoon. With that, I will now turn the call over to Frank Lee.
Thank you, Susan. Good afternoon to everyone joining today's call. Just over a year ago, we introduced our 5x30 strategy. This plan was designed to accelerate performance and position the company for sustainable growth and shareholder value creation. To remind you, 5x30 was built to deliver measurable progress around five key goals: patients served, product revenue, profitability, pipeline, and partnerships. Collectively, we believe advancing these five goals will drive shareholder value into and well beyond 2030. Let me start by saying that I'm pleased with our first quarter results. I'd like to recognize our team for their remarkable efforts. Our solid first quarter results reinforce our confidence that 5x30 is delivering its intended business results, and we're on the right strategic path. One year into execution, our progress across all five goals is clear.
This is reflected in our commercial performance, financial results, and pipeline advancements. I'll start with our flagship product, EXPAREL. Since our founding, EXPAREL has been the cornerstone of Pacira's leadership in opioid-sparing innovation for post-surgical pain. Through the dedicated efforts of our team, EXPAREL is demonstrating renewed growth more than a decade after its initial launch. This is a rarity in the pharmaceutical industry and a clear testament to the strength of our commercial, medical, and market access organizations. The accelerating volume growth we delivered in the second half of 2025 has continued into 2026. This momentum reflects a combination of fundamental improvements that are strengthening the long-term durability of our franchise, including expanding coverage outside the surgical bundle for Medicare patients following implementation of the NOPAIN Act at the beginning of 2025. A new product-specific J-code enabling streamlined billing and reimbursement.
Growing commercial payer coverage outside the surgical bundle, which Bren will discuss in more detail shortly. Increased awareness and adoption of non-opioid stewardship programs, as evidenced by encouraging market research results. Enhanced intellectual property protection, providing greater long-term visibility for the franchise. We now have 21 Orange Book-listed patents across two families protecting EXPAREL from generic challengers. This is a dramatic evolution from the single patent previously litigated and supported a favorable volume-limited settlement in 2025. This multi-year EXPAREL patent infringement litigation began in 2021 and extended through 2024. In addition to EXPAREL's leadership in post-surgical pain control, Zilretta and iovera's position in early intervention OA pain management are expanding. For Zilretta, the year is off to a strong start with a 15% year-over-year increase in sales. We believe the growth initiatives we put in place last year are now beginning to deliver results.
These include our dedicated Zilretta sales force, expanded patient access programs, and extended promotional reach through our Johnson & Johnson MedTech collaboration. From a lifecycle management perspective, we're pleased to report enrollment has concluded for a phase III registrational study in shoulder OA. This places us on track for top-line results later this year. The unmet need for shoulder OA is significant. There are approximately 1 million injections for shoulder OA administered annually in the U.S. despite the absence of FDA-approved products. If this phase III trial meets its objectives, Zilretta could become the first product with a labeled indication for shoulder OA. Iovera also had a strong start to 2026, with first quarter sales increasing 21% over 2025. We're starting to see the benefits from last year's rollout of a product-specific reimbursement code and a dedicated sales force staffed with experienced medical device account managers.
From a lifecycle management perspective, our registrational study in spasticity is on track with top-line results expected by year-end. Here, the unmet need remains high, with 6.3 million patients with spasticity seeking treatment each year in the U.S. Together, we believe our strong commercial performance in advancing lifecycle management will support durable top-line growth. Importantly, this momentum further strengthens our leadership in post-surgical pain control and early intervention OA pain management. In tandem with the momentum across our commercial portfolio, through our 5x30 strategy, we are now advancing an innovative clinical-stage pipeline. Here, we're prioritizing mechanistically de-risked assets with the potential to drive shareholder value well beyond 2030. In addition to clinical data readouts for our commercial products, our clinical-stage assets are entering a catalyst-rich period.
Key upcoming milestones include PCRX-201, our locally administered gene therapy for knee OA, remains on track for top-line data later this year. With approximately 15 million people in the U.S. affected by knee OA and limited durable treatment options, the unmet need remains high. I'll talk in greater detail about PCRX-201 shortly. PCRX-2002, our novel hydrogel formulation of the non-opioid analgesic ropivacaine for post-surgical pain. PCRX-2002 was designed to deliver rapid onset and long-acting analgesia from a single application at the time of surgery. We expect to begin phase II development later this year. This asset has the potential to complement EXPAREL as an easy-to-use, longer-acting therapy with patent protection extending to 2042. Additionally, our gene therapy platform continues to generate promising preclinical candidates to advance our 5x30 pipeline goal.
These include PCRX-1003 for degenerative disc disease, PCRX-1002 for dry eye disease, PCRX-1001 for canine OA, which we believe has significant out-licensing potential. Let me briefly highlight PCRX-201, our lead HCAd program, which represents a potential paradigm shift for the treatment of knee OA. Building on the encouraging durability we observed in our phase I study, our two-part phase II ASCEND study is on track. Part A is fully enrolled with 49 patients, as previously mentioned, we'll have top-line results from this 52-week study later this year. Like most phase II studies, ASCEND is not powered for efficacy. The primary objective is safety. We'll also be looking for efficacy trends. Key secondary endpoints include changes in pain and function from baseline as measured by numerical rating scale, WOMAC, and KOOS scores. In parallel, we're advancing a commercially viable manufacturing process for PCRX-201.
This work is critical to enabling the initiation of Part B around mid-year. We expect Part B to enroll roughly 90 additional patients across three arms, two different doses of PCRX-201, and an active steroid comparator. While it's premature to quantify the commercial opportunity, we believe PCRX-201 has three key attributes that underscore its market potential. First is durability. We believe that demonstrating a treatment effect lasting one year will represent a transformational advance in knee OA. This would be significantly longer than currently available knee OA treatments, which generally provide durability of approximately three to six months. Second is cost of goods. PCRX-201 is locally delivered. This differs from systemic approaches requiring much higher dosing to achieve the desired effect. Lower dose levels coupled with efficient manufacturing support a favorable and commercially viable cost of goods profile.
This is an important consideration for any therapy intended for chronic high-prevalence conditions like osteoarthritis. Third is health economic value. If the durability we're targeting is borne out clinically, we believe PCRX-201 could offer attractive value for the healthcare system. As a reminder, PCRX-201 is an IL-1 receptor antagonist. IL-1 is a well-validated de-risked target for reducing inflammation. There are currently two FDA-approved drugs that block the IL-1 pathway in other inflammatory joint conditions. Neither one is practical for early OA intervention because their short half-life would require very high systemic doses or daily knee injections. PCRX-201 is complementary to Zilretta and iovera and could expand our leadership in early intervention OA pain management. Briefly turning to partnerships, which remain a key pillar of our 5x30 strategy. We're taking a disciplined, targeted approach to business development.
We're prioritizing strategically aligned assets that are financially accretive and leverage our commercial infrastructure. In parallel, we're utilizing strategic partnerships to access new sources of revenue by expanding our commercial reach into untapped U.S. and international markets. Our strategic collaboration with market leaders Johnson & Johnson MedTech and LG Chem are both excellent examples of our strategy in motion. These partnerships advance our goal of five partnerships by 2030 and efficiently expand our commercial coverage and geographic reach. In summary, we're pleased with our first quarter results and the momentum behind our 5x30 strategy. With clear progress across every 5x30 goal, we remain confident we'll deliver sustainable growth and value creation into and well beyond 2030. With that, I'd like to turn the call over to Bren to share more details on our first quarter commercial performance. Bren.
Thank you, Frank, and good afternoon to all joining us today. I'm pleased to report that the upward momentum we observed in the second half of 2025 has continued into 2026. Our commercial execution is on point. Demand trends are strong across the complete portfolio, we're delivering top-line growth consistent with what we previewed in February. I'll start with our flagship product, EXPAREL, where we're outperforming last year's first quarter volume growth while continuing to expand patient and provider access. We continue to see excellent momentum in hospital outpatient and ASC settings, where an increasing number of EXPAREL-assisted procedures are taking place and where our customers are seeing favorable reimbursement. Our focus beyond sharing excellent clinical outcomes is demonstrating the enhanced economic value of EXPAREL.
To support this, we recently presented data from real-world studies highlighting EXPAREL's compelling value proposition, along with several health economics and outcomes studies at key congresses that include the Orthopaedic Research Society, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, and the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy. These real-world data demonstrate both the clinical and economic value EXPAREL delivers. We look forward to reporting additional data readouts as the year progresses. Our initiatives include the comprehensive real-world IGOR registry, which now has more than 3,500 OA patients enrolled and is providing valuable information for EXPAREL, Zilretta, iovera, as well as other treatments. These data are helping guide best practice for knee OA patients across their treatment journey. Importantly, commercial payers continue to recognize the EXPAREL value proposition and implement NOPAIN-like policies that reimburse outside the surgical bundle.
We have now surpassed 110 million covered lives with separate reimbursement outside of the bundle for EXPAREL. With a growing critical mass of coverage, we expect accelerating change in the market throughout the remainder of the year. In short, we are extremely encouraged by the progress made in the first quarter, building on the momentum from 2025. Demand is being driven by powerful combination of expanding reimbursement, growing protocol adoption, and compelling real-world evidence, all supporting each other and growing our business. With a strong finish to 2025 and a solid start to 2026, EXPAREL continues to gain share as institutions commit to best practice opioid-sparing care. We remain confident in our ability to deliver durable, sustainable growth for EXPAREL as access widens and best practices evolve.
Turning to Zilretta and iovera, both products are off to a strong start to 2026 as valuable commercial investments we made last year begin to bear fruit. As you know, last year, we rolled out a dedicated Pacira sales force for Zilretta to ensure a focused promotional impact. In addition, we essentially tripled our U.S. commercial reach for Zilretta through a strategic collaboration with J&J MedTech. For iovera, we are benefiting similarly from a dedicated sales force we onboarded last year. Looking ahead, we believe both Zilretta and iovera have significant upside potential to become more meaningful sources of revenue. In summary, we're pleased with the strong start to 2026 across our three commercial products. We believe we are well-positioned to deliver a successful year of sustainable top-line growth. With that, I will turn the call over to Shawn for his financial review.
Thank you, Bren. I'll start with an update on sales and margin trends. First quarter EXPAREL net sales increased to $143.3 million, versus $136.5 million in 2025. Volume growth of approximately 7% was partially offset by a shift in vial mix and discounting from our third GPO going live last year. First quarter sales were also impacted by winter storms disrupting shipping and triggering returns. As we move forward in 2026, we expect the delta between volume and revenue growth for the second quarter to be similar to the second half of 2025 and then narrow as we anniversary our third GPO agreement mid-year. For ZILRETTA, first quarter sales improved by 15% to $26.8 million, versus the $23.3 million we reported in 2025.
As Bren mentioned, this was largely attributable to the growth initiatives implemented last year, including our dedicated Zilretta sales force. For iovera, sales increased 21% to $6.2 million, compared to $5.1 million in the first quarter of 2025. Again, as Bren mentioned earlier, this was largely attributable to the growth initiatives implemented last year, including our dedicated iovera sales force. Turning to gross margins. On a consolidated basis, our first quarter non-GAAP gross margin was 80%, versus 81% for last year. Gross margins continue to benefit from the improved cost and efficiencies of our enhanced larger scale EXPAREL manufacturing process and continuous improvement initiatives at both of our manufacturing facilities. The non-GAAP R&D expense, the first quarter increased to $25.4 million from $23.1 million reported last year.
This increase relates to our advancing phase II study of PCRX-201 as well as our label expansion studies, all of which have anticipated top line readouts later this year. In addition, we're supporting three promising HCAd-based preclinical programs. Non-GAAP SG&A expense came in at $83.9 million for the first quarter versus $76.2 million last year. You may recall that last year's SG&A expense was positively impacted by a favorable outcome to litigation and subsequent recovery of $5.2 million in legal fees. Taking this into account, we are largely in line with last year. As we discussed last quarter, we're now leveraging our existing commercial infrastructure, which is well equipped to support top line growth. All of this resulted in another quarter of significant adjusted EBITDA of approximately $40.2 million for the first quarter.
As for the balance sheet, we continue to be in a position of strength and ended the quarter with $202 million in cash and investments. With a strong balance sheet and a business that is producing significant operating cash flow, we believe we are well equipped to advance our 5x30 growth strategy and create shareholder value. With respect to capital deployment, we will continue to maintain a disciplined and strategic approach, focusing on three key areas. First, driving top line growth by leveraging our existing commercial infrastructure. Second, advancing an innovative pipeline and becoming the leader in musculoskeletal pain and adjacencies. We are prioritizing accretive end market assets to leverage our established commercial footprint and de-risk clinical stage programs. Third, opportunistically returning capital to shareholders. During the first quarter, we executed another $50 million in share repurchases.
As a result, we retired approximately 2.2 million shares of common stock. Since last year's start of the plan, we have decreased our share count by a total of approximately 9 million shares and reduced our outstanding common shares to 39.3 million. To remind you, as of March 31, we had $100 million remaining under our share buyback authorization, which runs through the end of this year. Going forward, we remain committed to maintaining favorable operating margins while advancing our 5x30 strategy. This brings us to our full year financial guidance for 2026, which we are reiterating today as follows. Total revenues of $745 million-$770 million. For EXPAREL, net product sales of $600 million-$620 million.
With respect to quarterly trends, we anticipate the remainder of 2026 will largely follow historical patterns. For Zilretta and iovera, our guidance assumes 2026 will be largely in line with 2025. While we are encouraged by both products' start to the year, we will wait to gain more visibility before updating our assumptions. The final component of our 2026 revenue guidance relates to $7 million in expected revenue from our licensing agreement for the veterinary market. Non-GAAP gross margins of 77%-79%. With respect to quarterly cadence, we expect the next two quarters to continue to benefit from the sale of lower cost EXPAREL inventory. For the fourth quarter, we expect margins to be slightly below our full year guidance range due to the sale of higher cost inventory as well as shutdown-related costs and other expenses.
Non-GAAP R&D expense of $105 million-$115 million. As we prepare to initiate part B of our phase II ASCEND study of PCRX-201 and certain EXPAREL and Zilretta product development efforts, we expect an uptick in R&D expense during the second quarter, followed by a slight decline in quarterly spend as compared to the second quarter in the back half of the year. Non-GAAP SG&A expense of $320 million-$340 million. With respect to the timing of SG&A spending, we expect the first half of the year to be higher than the second half as a result of proxy-related activities. Stock-based compensation of $54 million-$62 million. Lastly, for those modeling adjusted EBITDA, we expect our 2026 depreciation expense to be approximately $30 million. With that, I'll turn the call back over to Frank.
Thank you, Shawn. In closing, 2026 is off to a strong start. Pacira is operating with momentum, clarity and discipline. Our 5x30 strategy is driving strong execution and reinforcing our leadership in post-surgical pain and early intervention OA pain management. We look forward to building on this momentum and positioning the company for sustainable growth and value creation through and beyond 2030. Thank you again for joining us today and for your continued support and confidence in our mission. With that, we're ready to open up the call for questions. Operator?
As reminder, to ask a question, you will need to press star one one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. To withdraw your question, please press star one one again. Please stand by while we compile our Q&A roster.
Our first question will come from the line of Douglas Miehm of H.C. Wainwright & Co. Your line is open, Douglas.
Hi. Good afternoon. Thanks for taking the questions. A few questions. Maybe Shawn, just as a starting point, if you could help us walk through a little bit about the cadence for R&D spend through the rest of the year. Just to confirm, it sounds like we're gonna have a step-up in 2Q, followed by then sort of a re-step down in the third quarter, you know, just as we see PCRX-201 ramp up. You know, just sort of should we think then more spend in 2027? Thank you. I have a follow-up.
Hey, hey Doug, Frank here. Thanks for the question. Let me just turn it over to Shawn, and he can walk us through that a little bit here.
Thanks, Frank, and thanks for the question, Doug. Happy to provide a bit more detail on the R&D cadence this year. As mentioned in my remarks a few minutes ago, we were preparing for initiation of Part B of the ASCEND study for PCRX-201, which we're excited about, and then certain EXPAREL product development efforts. We do expect an uptick in Q2 from the $25.4 million in Q1 that we spent. Just to provide a little more detail, we expect it to be in the low $30 million range, and then we'll come back down closer to the Q1 levels in Q3 and Q4. That's how we see it playing out. We'll obviously provide more updates as we get through the year.
Okay, great. That's very helpful, with that specificity. Then just at a, at a macro level, you know, 1 thing that I've been curious about is sort of the expiration of the Obamacare subsidies. We've started to see some decline in terms of enrollments. You know, I think if we look at results for some of the med tech companies in the 1st quarter and even some of the hospital names that have not seen anything dramatic. I'm just curious, you know, what you are hearing, you know, from sort of the hospital channel, you know, in terms of their perspective on what how they're thinking about the rest of the year playing out. Thank you.
Thanks, Doug. listen, we stay close to this, so let me turn this one over to Bren to give his perspective.
Doug, thanks so much for the question. Obviously, we're always looking at the broader macro environment. I'm sure that people are taking a look at what those changes will mean to them individually. We will keep a close eye on those procedures where EXPAREL is, you know, favored for addressing, and we'll continue to kind of give updates as we see it play out. I think it's just too early to say.
Okay, great. Thank you very much, and I'll jump out for now.
Our next question will be coming from the line of Dennis Ding of Jefferies. Your line is open, Dennis.
Hi, this is Anthea on for Dennis. Thanks for taking our question. Earlier this week, we saw data from a cell-free regenerative therapy for knee OA, with a headline efficacy of 93% of patients demonstrating clinically meaningful improvements in mobility and pain reduction. There's not a lot of information on that trial, so I'm curious how you guys are framing that data and how PCRX-201 will differentiate from that product. Any additional color on what promising efficacy trends would look like for PCRX-201's readout would be helpful as well. Thank you.
Hey, thanks for the question. I didn't get the name of the company you mentioned. What was that?
I think Creative Medical Technology.
Okay. There are a lot of different cell and regenerative therapy companies out there. Let me turn it over to Jonathan to see if he has any perspective on that because of course, there are lots of different studies out there with various levels of rigor.
Thanks, Frank. Not commenting on any specific company. We are confident that the HCAd platform is the right modality for sustained relief of knee osteoarthritis. We have made tremendous progress in scaling up. We are finalizing our commercial scale manufacturing for Part B. As we've articulated before, anticipated enrollment is right on time. To answer your second question, we're expecting the top-line data from Part A to read out at the end of the year. Just to remind you, its primary efficacy is safety. What we will be looking at is the totality of the data to understand how PCRX-201 performs in a randomized clinical control trial with an active comparator.
We are looking at safety as our primary efficacy, but we will also be looking at the secondary endpoints around efficacy as well. We will be reviewing that data, and then we're gonna go forward, we'll assess where we are at. The trends that we're looking for are trends consistent with durability and efficacy from our phase I trial.
Okay. Thank you.
Our next question will be coming from Leszek Sulewski of Truist Securities. Your line is open, Les.
Hey, this is Jeevan on for Les. Thanks for taking our questions.
How would you characterize elective procedure trends exiting March? Any lasting impact from the winter storms? Separately, how should we think about potential upside from ex-US partnerships across the portfolio? Thank you.
Hey, thanks for the question, Jeevan. I'll ask Bren to comment a little bit about what we saw and what we're seeing now. He mentioned it a little bit earlier. I'll let him comment on that a little bit. I'll mention a little bit about what to expect on ex-US partnerships. Bren.
Yeah. Les, thank you so much for the question. If we look at the moving annual total for procedures where EXPAREL would assist, that's largely flat year-over-year, despite EXPAREL being up over 7%. If we look specifically at the first quarter, market procedures are up in the mid-single digits. I would say 4%-5%, as opposed to EXPAREL. If that gives you some sense. Then we'll look to see how that progresses here in the second quarter.
Just to answer your question about ex-U.S. partnerships. Let me take a step back here a little bit. This is an important part of our 5x30 strategy in terms of signing five partnerships, both here in the U.S. and ex-U.S. As you know, ex-U.S., we've signed a partnership with LG Chem, they're a leading company in Asia Pacific. We have plans to sign similar types of partnerships in the other major geographies. It's premature to provide guidance on these kinds of partnerships and top-line impact, but I would say it's not insignificant. These will be important partnerships that'll drive revenue not only through 2030, but well beyond 2030. That's where we stand now.
As you know, the first partnership, the intention is to file, in the not too distant future. So, we'll be updating you on guidance around that, starting in 2027.
Our next question will be coming from the line of Serge Belanger of Needham & Company. Your line is open.
Hi, good afternoon. Thanks for taking our questions. The first one, kind of a follow-up to the previous question around the impact of winter storms. I think you were expecting a potential softer 1Q because of those storms. Looks like all three of your products had some pretty solid year-over-year growth. Just curious if there was any impact or you were able to recapture it over the remainder of the quarter. My second question regarding NOPAIN Act. If I remember correctly, the NOPAIN Act has kind of a three-year term ending in 2027. Just curious if there's any legislation in development here to extend or modify that term. Thanks.
Yeah, thanks for your question, Serge. Regarding the winter storm, we can provide a little bit more color on this, so I'll turn to Bren for that. Bren, maybe you can talk a little bit about what we saw in the winter storms. I'll speak to NOPAIN Act.
Yeah, sure. Thank you so much for the question, Serge. The winter storms do have an impact. They impact both the ability to ship, but also, as you would expect in those geographies, where those surgeries might have taken place, those surgeries did not happen, which lead to rescheduling, not necessarily within the quarter. I think there is some kind of carryover as patients look to be rescheduled for those procedures. Despite that, I think we are very pleased with the performance of EXPAREL volume, vis-a-vis the total available market. That's what I would say for winter storms. I believe we are past that and, you know, looking forward to the second quarter.
Thanks, Bren. Serge, with regard to your question about NOPAIN, thanks for that. NOPAIN indeed, initially is scheduled to expire at the end of 2027. That said, we have been staying very close to CMS and other stakeholders. What we're very encouraged about is not only the uptake of NOPAIN, but also the expansion of coverage to commercial lives. Bren mentioned earlier that now we have a total of $110 million outside the bundle and growing. As you know, NOPAIN is primarily covering Medicare lives. What we can tell you is that we're very encouraged by the discussions we've had about the market research and the uptake of NOPAIN with CMS and other stakeholders. We're gonna confirm a lot of what we're seeing through claims analysis.
I would say that NOPAIN is doing what it's intended to do, and the commercial payers are also coming on board, which is highly encouraging.
Thank you.
Our next question will be coming from the line of Hardik Parikh of JPMorgan. Your line is open.
Hey, everybody. Thanks for taking my question. I just wanted to ask you about Shawn, I think I heard you say you expect SG&A to be lower in the second half. Can you talk to the magnitude of the step down you're expecting in the second half? Then, just SG&A seems to have elevated the past 5 quarters of relative to 2024. I'm just trying to get a sense of what the normalized run rate is going forward. Thank you.
Hey, thanks for that, Hardik. Let me turn it to Shawn here.
Thanks for the question. If you look at, we reported $83.9 million in SG&A this quarter. You can take a look at, without providing, you know, super specific detail, but you can take a look at the information we filed in our proxy on, it was Tuesday or Wednesday. I'm losing track of time here. That provides some of the magnitude of what we anticipate spending during proxy season. That would be, you know, above and, you know, the typical sort of course of events. We anticipate sort of coming back down in Q3 and Q4 to sort of, you know, perhaps a little bit below where we, where we even spent in this quarter, kind of generally directionally correct.
Thank you.
I would now like to turn the conference back to Susan for closing remarks.
Thank you, operator, and thanks to all on the call for your questions and time today. We're excited about the opportunities ahead and remain focused on executing our 5x30 growth strategy with discipline and purpose. As we look to the remainder of 2026, we are confident in our ability to build on our momentum and position Pacira for long-term success. Thank you again for your continued support. Good night.
This concludes today's program. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.

