Pacira BioSciences (PCRX) has entered a strategic collaboration with Johnson & Johnson MedTech to co-promote ZILRETTA®, its extended-release intra-articular injection for osteoarthritis knee pain.
The agreement allows J&J's early intervention sales force, already active in promoting hyaluronic acid injections, to market ZILRETTA to both existing and new physician networks, including specialties beyond orthopedics such as sports medicine, pain management, and rheumatology.
The partnership aims to broaden access to ZILRETTA across a significant portion of the estimated seven million annual knee injections in the U.S.
Pacira CEO Frank D. Lee emphasized that the alliance aligns with the company's growth strategy and furthers its mission of offering safe, non-opioid pain therapies. According to him, ZILRETTA's unique delivery mechanism and prolonged efficacy position it well for wider adoption under this new promotional framework.
The licensing approach builds on Pacira's broader non-opioid pain treatment portfolio, which also includes EXPAREL®, iovera°, and gene therapy candidate PCRX-201. ZILRETTA, first FDA-approved in 2017, uses microsphere technology to offer up to 12 weeks of knee pain relief and has demonstrated efficacy up to 16 weeks in some patients.
Pacira notes that ZILRETTA should be used strictly as an intra-articular injection and lists hypersensitivity, joint infection risk, and other precautions in its prescribing information.
Tuesday, PCRX closed at $22.43, up 1.17%, and edged slightly higher after hours to $22.45, a 0.09% gain on the NasdaqGS.
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