Pacira Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has entered into a strategic production partnership with Patheon, the pharmaceutical services business of DPx Holdings, to manufacture and package EXPAREL (bupivacaine liposome injectable suspension) at Patheon’s facility in Swindon, UK.
 
The companies will collaborate to construct dedicated manufacturing suites for EXPAREL at Patheon’s Swindon sterile manufacturing facility, the first of which is expected to come online in two to three years. The suite will be designed to replicate Pacira’s recently approved manufacturing suite at its Science Center Campus in San Diego. The additional suites will provide approximately $300 million of additional product manufacturing capacity.
 
Patheon will be responsible for the construction of the suites, installation and validation of the manufacturing equipment, and the commercial manufacture of EXPAREL. Pacira will oversee the design and purchase of the manufacturing equipment, lead the technical transfer, and oversee optimization of the DepoFoam-based manufacturing process.
 
“Patheon has a long history of excellence in manufacturing sterile injection products,” said Dave Stack, president, chief executive officer and chairman of Pacira. “With EXPAREL on a growth trajectory, we are confident that Patheon will ensure our ability to continue supplying EXPAREL to the marketplace beyond the capacity of our current Science Center manufacturing facility in San Diego.”
 
“EXPAREL is an ideal product for our Swindon facility, which we have recently upgraded to focus strategically on manufacturing specialty products in dedicated suites,” said Jim Mullen, chief executive officer of DPx. “We are excited about the commercial prospects of EXPAREL and look forward to building our partnership with Pacira based upon Patheon’s comprehensive customer service model.”