On February 25, 2021 Pacira BioSciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: PCRX), the industry leader in its commitment to non-opioid pain management and regenerative health solutions, reported financial results for the fourth quarter and full-year of 2020 (Press release, Pacira Pharmaceuticals, FEB 25, 2021, View Source;991.htm [SID1234575626]).

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"Our nation’s opioid crisis has escalated under the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic, as isolation and lack of access to healthcare has exacerbated mental health challenges, particularly addiction. I am delighted to report that EXPAREL-based protocols are expanding opioid-sparing pain management for a variety of procedures where historically poor postsurgical pain management fueled such addictions. Despite these challenging times, we have quickly adapted to a virtual world and delivered record revenues for 2020," said Dave Stack, chairman and chief executive officer of Pacira BioSciences. "Looking ahead to the balance of the year, we remain steadfast in our commitment to providing an opioid alternative to as many patients as possible and redefining the role of opioids as a rescue medication while enabling the migration to hospital outpatient and ambulatory surgery centers for elective surgery."

2020 Full-Year and Fourth Quarter Financial Highlights

Full-year revenues of $429.6 million and fourth quarter revenues of $131.0 million.
Full-year GAAP net income of $145.5 million or $3.41 per share (basic) and $3.33 (diluted).
Fourth quarter GAAP net income of $14.5 million or $0.33 per share (basic) and $0.32 (diluted).
Full-year non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDA of $112.6 million and fourth quarter non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDA of $42.9 million.
Recent Business Highlights

Equity investment in GeneQuine Biotherapeutics.
In January 2021, Pacira announced an equity investment in GeneQuine Biotherapeutics GmbH. Under the terms of the agreement, Pacira made an initial investment of €2.0 million with an additional €4.0 million investment predicated upon GeneQuine achieving certain prespecified near-term milestones related to its lead gene therapy product candidate, GQ-303. Up to €2.5 million of the total Pacira investment will be in the form of a convertible note. In addition, Pacira is entitled to appoint one member to GeneQuine’s board of directors. GeneQuine Biotherapeutics is a privately held biopharmaceutical company advancing a gene therapy platform for the treatment of osteoarthritis (OA) and other musculoskeletal disorders. GeneQuine’s product candidates are next-generation gene transfer vehicles that are highly efficient in entering joint cells to confer multi-year gene expression.

European Commission approves EXPAREL for the treatment of postsurgical pain. In November 2020, the European Commission granted marketing authorization for EXPAREL as a brachial plexus block or femoral nerve block for treatment of post-operative pain in adults, and as a field block for treatment of somatic post-operative pain from small- to medium-sized surgical wounds in adults. The European Commission approval was based on the results of four pivotal Phase 3 studies that demonstrated improvements in pain reduction and opioid use. These studies include: lower extremity nerve block, upper extremity nerve block, and infiltration studies in hard and soft tissue surgeries. The European Commission decision is applicable to all 27 European Union member states plus the United Kingdom, Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein. Commercial planning is underway, with an anticipated launch in the second half of 2021.
Fourth Quarter 2020 Financial Results

Total revenues were $131.0 million in the fourth quarter of 2020, a 7% increase over the $122.4 million reported for the fourth quarter of 2019.
EXPAREL net product sales were $125.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2020, a 7% increase over the $116.9 million reported for the fourth quarter of 2019.
Fourth quarter 2020 iovera° net product sales were $2.4 million, a 25% decrease versus the $3.2 million reported in the fourth quarter of 2019.
Sales of bupivacaine liposome injectable suspension to a third-party licensee for use in veterinary practice were $2.0 million in the fourth quarter of 2020, compared to $1.7 million in 2019.
Fourth quarter 2020 royalty revenue was $1.2 million compared to $0.6 million in 2019.
Total operating expenses were $112.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2020, compared to $120.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2019.
Research and development (R&D) expenses were $15.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2020, compared to $19.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2019. The company’s R&D expenses include $5.2 million and $8.7 million of product development and manufacturing capacity expansion costs in the fourth quarters of 2020 and 2019, respectively.
Selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses were $52.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2020, compared to $54.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2019.
GAAP net income was $14.5 million, or $0.33 per share (basic) and $0.32 (diluted), in the fourth quarter of 2020, compared to a GAAP net loss of $4.9 million, or $0.12 per share (basic and diluted), in the fourth quarter of 2019.
Non-GAAP net income was $38.8 million, or $0.89 per share (basic) and $0.87 per share (diluted), in the fourth quarter of 2020, compared to non-GAAP net income of $23.8 million, or $0.57 per share (basic) and $0.56 per share (diluted), in the fourth quarter of 2019.
Adjusted EBITDA was $42.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2020, a 48% increase over $29.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2019.
Pacira had 43.5 million basic and 44.7 million diluted weighted average shares of common stock outstanding in the fourth quarter of 2020.
Full-Year 2020 Financial Results

Total revenues were $429.6 million in 2020, a 2% increase over the $421.0 million reported in 2019.
EXPAREL net product sales were $413.3 million in 2020, a 1% increase over the $407.9 million reported in 2019.
Full-year iovera° net product sales were $8.8 million, a 12% increase over the $7.9 million reported in 2019. Pacira began recognizing sales of iovera° in April 2019 after completing its acquisition of MyoScience, Inc., a privately held medical technology company.
Sales of bupivacaine liposome injectable suspension to a third-party licensee for use in veterinary practice were $4.5 million in 2020, compared to $3.2 million in 2019.
Full-year royalty revenue was $3.0 million compared to $2.1 million in 2019.
Total operating expenses were $383.3 million in 2020, compared to $410.5 million in 2019.
Research and development (R&D) expenses were $59.4 million in 2020, compared to $72.1 million in 2019. The company’s R&D expenses include $23.5 million and $29.7 million of product development and manufacturing capacity expansion costs in 2020 and 2019, respectively.
Selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses were $193.5 million in 2020, compared to $200.8 million in 2019.
GAAP net income was $145.5 million, or $3.41 per share (basic) and $3.33 per share (diluted) in 2020, compared to a GAAP net loss of $11.0 million, or $0.27 per share (basic and diluted) in 2019.
Non-GAAP net income was $96.6 million, or $2.26 per share (basic) and $2.21 per share (diluted), in 2020, compared to non-GAAP net income of $70.7 million, or $1.70 per share (basic) and $1.67 per share (diluted), in 2019.
Adjusted EBITDA was $112.6 million in 2020, a 26% increase over $89.2 million in 2019.
Pacira had 42.7 million basic and 43.7 million diluted weighted average shares of common stock outstanding in 2020.
See "Non-GAAP Financial Information" below.

Financial Guidance

The company’s 2021 product sales continue to be negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, which mandated significant postponement or suspension in the scheduling of elective surgical procedures resulting from public health guidance and government directives. Elective surgery restrictions began to lift on a state-by-state basis in April 2020. In order to provide greater transparency, the company will continue to report monthly intra-quarter unaudited net product sales until it has gained enough visibility around the impacts of COVID-19 to reinstate financial guidance.

Today’s Conference Call and Webcast Reminder

The Pacira management team will host a conference call to discuss the company’s financial results and recent developments today, Thursday, February 25, 2021, at 8:30 a.m. ET. To participate in the conference call, dial 1-877-845-0779 and provide the passcode 4864607. International callers may dial 1-720-545-0035 and use the same passcode. In addition, a live audio of the conference call will be available as a webcast. Interested parties can access the event through the "Events" page on the Pacira website at investor.pacira.com.

For those unable to participate in the live call, a replay will be available at 1-855-859-2056 (domestic) or 1-404-537-3406 (international) using the passcode 4864607. The replay of the call will be available for one week from the date of the live call. The webcast will be available on the Pacira website for approximately two weeks following the call.

Non-GAAP Financial Information

This press release contains financial measures that do not comply with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), such as non-GAAP net income, non-GAAP net income per share, non-GAAP cost of goods sold, non-GAAP gross margins, non-GAAP research and development (R&D) expense and non-GAAP selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expense and adjusted EBITDA, because such measures exclude acquisition-related charges, product discontinuation costs and other expense; stock-based compensation; amortization of debt discount; loss on early extinguishment of debt, amortization of acquired intangible assets; an income tax benefit and a step-up in basis of inventory in connection with the acquisition of MyoScience, Inc., (gain) loss on investment and other non-operating income and the reversal of a deferred tax valuation allowance.

These measures supplement Pacira’s financial results prepared in accordance with GAAP. Pacira management uses these measures to better analyze its financial results, estimate its future cost of goods sold, gross margins, R&D expense and SG&A expense outlook for 2021 and to help make managerial decisions. In management’s opinion, these non-GAAP measures are useful to investors and other users of our financial statements by providing greater transparency into the operating performance at Pacira and its future outlook. Such measures should not be deemed to be an alternative to GAAP requirements or a measure of liquidity for Pacira. Non-GAAP measures are also unlikely to be comparable with non-GAAP disclosures released by other companies. See the tables below for a reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP measures, including adjusted EBITDA.