BRISBANE, Calif., May 28, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pacira BioSciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: PCRX) (the "Company" or "Pacira"), the industry leader in its commitment to deliver innovative, non-opioid pain therapies to transform the lives of patients, today announced that leading independent proxy advisory firm Glass Lewis & Co., LLC ("Glass Lewis") has recommended that Pacira stockholders vote "FOR" each of Pacira's three director nominees -- Christopher Christie, Samit Hirawat, MD and Thomas Wiggans -- and "AGAINST" all three of DOMA Perpetual Capital Management LLC's ("DOMA Perpetual" or "DOMA")(1) nominees on the BLUE proxy card ahead of the Company's 2026 Annual Meeting of Stockholders (the "Annual Meeting") on June 9, 2026.
In its report, Glass Lewis concluded that Pacira has an actionable plan designed to deliver substantial stockholder value by 2030 and has nominated three highly qualified directors to help oversee its strategy. Glass Lewis noted Pacira's one-year total stockholder return of 37% for calendar year 2025, as well as cumulative total stockholder return of 23.8%(2) since launching the 5x30 strategy, both of which reflect the efficacy of the steps Pacira's board and executive leadership team are taking to position the Company for long term growth and value creation.
Glass Lewis also noted the following in its report:(3)
Regarding Pacira's Performance and 5x30 Strategy:
-- "[I]n aggregate, the Company's adoption of the 5x30 Plan has correlated
with competitive returns over the relatively brief period since
announcement, narrowing Pacira's spread against peers and prospectively
reflecting improved confidence in the Company's strategic direction under
CEO Frank Lee."
-- "Moreover, Pacira's new pipeline products, namely PCRX-201 and PCRX-2002,
are Phase 2 and are expected to deliver 'topline accretion ... beyond
2030'. In the simplest terms, the top-line growth story underpinning 5x30
is still very much in progress, and the board offers sufficiently
persuasive cause to conclude a wait-and-see tack is appropriate."
-- "[T]he Company's filing of a total of 21 Orange Book-listed patents
across two families offers another example of the board's efforts in
actively mitigating future risk, thus providing further evidence of the
board's efforts to protect Pacira's existing IP."
-- "In particular, the effort is fundamentally underpinned by actionable and
reasonable goals designed to deliver substantial value by 2030, backed by
qualified Management Nominees and a well-balanced and mostly refreshed
board. Endorsement for the incumbent slate necessarily reflects an
endorsement for continued pursuit of Mr. Lee's plan, a move that appears
prudent at this juncture."
Regarding DOMA's Director Nominees and Claims:
-- "Most notably, DOMA -- which has not presented sufficiently compelling
cause to scupper the 5x30 Plan at its currently incipient stage -- favors
a more dramatic solution that would reshape management and the board as a
means to swiftly implement a potentially transformative strategic review.
While that is already a relatively tall order in the current context, it
should be stressed DOMA's nominees do not evidently possess the skills
necessary to effectively execute such a plan."
-- "[I]t is unclear whether DOMA's position is truly aligned with a
disciplined review of alternatives, or whether DOMA's perception of
Pacira's future is already heavily skewed in favor of an expedited sale
of the Company."
-- "As for the incumbent board's performance in relation to risk
representation, it does not appear that DOMA's critiques are
well-founded. A review of the board's filings and press releases
regarding patents, pending litigation and risks adequately demonstrate
that the language and level of disclosure used by the Company to inform
shareholders of such matters are in line with industry standards."
-- "In short, then, the considerable risk and uncertainty attendant to
DOMA's promulgated alternative is not adequately offset by the
Dissident's core arguments or the composition of its competing slate."
Commenting on Glass Lewis' recommendation, Pacira issued the following statement:
We are pleased that Glass Lewis supports our three highly qualified director nominees and recognizes that we are delivering measurable progress across the five pillars of our 5x30 strategy and are well positioned to continue executing our long-term plan for stockholder value creation.
We encourage all stockholders to follow Glass Lewis' recommendation and vote "FOR" the election of each of Pacira's highly qualified director nominees -- Christopher Christie, Samit Hirawat, MD and Thomas Wiggans -- on the BLUE proxy card and DISREGARD any white proxy card you may receive from DOMA.
Your vote is extremely important no matter how many shares you own.
Whether or not you expect to attend the Annual Meeting, please promptly follow the easy instructions on your BLUE proxy card or BLUE voting instruction form to vote by proxy, over the Internet, by telephone or by mail.
Please simply DISREGARD any white proxy card you may receive from DOMA.
If you have questions or require assistance with voting your shares, please contact Pacira's proxy solicitor:
D.F. King & Co., Inc. at +1 (800) 714-3310 (toll-free from the U.S. and Canada) or +1 (646) 981-1286 (banks and brokers) or email PCRX@dfking.com.
Advisors
Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC is acting as financial advisor and Perkins Coie LLP is acting as legal counsel to Pacira.
About Pacira
Pacira delivers innovative, non-opioid pain therapies to transform the lives of patients. Pacira has three commercial-stage non-opioid treatments: EXPAREL$(R)$ (bupivacaine liposome injectable suspension), a long-acting local analgesic currently approved for infiltration, fascial plane block, and as an interscalene brachial plexus nerve block, an adductor canal nerve block, and a sciatic nerve block in the popliteal fossa for postsurgical pain management; ZILRETTA(R) (triamcinolone acetonide extended-release injectable suspension), an extended-release, intra-articular injection indicated for the management of osteoarthritis knee pain; and iovera(R) deg, a novel, handheld device for delivering immediate, long-acting, drug-free pain control using precise, controlled doses of cold temperature to a targeted nerve. The company is also advancing a pipeline of clinical-stage assets for musculoskeletal pain and adjacencies, its most advanced product candidate, PCRX-201 (enekinragene inzadenovec), a novel locally administered gene therapy, is in Phase 2 clinical development for osteoarthritis of the knee. To learn more about Pacira, visit www.pacira.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Any statements in this document about Pacira's future expectations, plans, trends, outlook, projections and prospects, and other statements containing the words "believes," "anticipates," "plans," "estimates," "expects," "intends," "may," "will," "would," "could," "can" and similar expressions, constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"), and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, without limitation, statements related to: the Annual Meeting; Pacira's board of directors and the contributions of new directors and director nominees; '5x30', our growth and business strategy, our future outlook, the strength and efficacy of our intellectual property protection and patent terms, our future growth potential and future financial and operating results and trends, our plans, objectives, expectations (financial or otherwise) and intentions, including our plans with respect to the repayment of our indebtedness, anticipated product portfolio and product development programs, strategic alliances, plans with respect to the Non-Opioids Prevent Addiction in the Nation ("NOPAIN") Act and any other statements that are not historical facts. For this purpose, any statement that is not a statement of historical fact should be considered a forward-looking statement. We cannot assure you that our estimates, assumptions and expectations will prove to have been correct. Actual results may differ materially from these indicated by such forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including risks relating to, among others: risks associated with acquisitions, such as the risk that the acquired businesses and/or assets will not be integrated successfully, that such integration may be more difficult, time-consuming or costly than expected or that the expected benefits of the transaction will not occur; our manufacturing and supply chain, global and United States economic conditions (including tariffs, inflation and rising interest rates), and our business, including our revenues, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations; the success of our sales and manufacturing efforts in support of the commercialization of EXPAREL, ZILRETTA and ioveradeg; the rate and degree of market acceptance of EXPAREL, ZILRETTA and ioveradeg; the size and growth of the potential markets for EXPAREL, ZILRETTA and ioveradeg and our ability to serve those markets; our plans to expand the use of EXPAREL, ZILRETTA and ioveradeg to additional indications and opportunities, and the timing and success of any related clinical trials for EXPAREL, ZILRETTA, ioveradeg and any of our other product candidates, including but not limited to PCRX-201 (enekinragene inzadenovec) and PCRX-2002; the commercial success of EXPAREL, ZILRETTA and ioveradeg; the related timing and success of United States Food and Drug Administration supplemental New Drug Applications and premarket notification 510(k)s; the related timing and success of European Medicines Agency Marketing Authorization
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