Pacira's Exparel meets in Phase III upper extremity nerve block trial

Pacira Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:PCRX) reported top-line data from a double-blind, international Phase III trial in 156 patients undergoing 1 of 2 upper extremity surgeries -- unilateral total shoulder arthroplasty or rotator cuff repair -- showing that 133 mg Exparel bupivacaine given as a single-dose brachial plexus block at least 1 hour prior to surgery met the primary endpoint of improving cumulative pain scores over 48 hours as measured by the area under the curve (AUC) vs. placebo (p<0.0001). Exparel also met secondary endpoints of improving total postsurgical opioid consumption (p<0.0001), the proportion of opioid-free patients (p<0.01) and time to first opioid rescue (p<0.0001) vs. placebo. All patients were eligible to receive postsurgical rescue opioids upon request...