Pacira acquires remaining 81% of GQ Bio for $32M

Pacira (PCRX) announced it has acquired the remaining 81% equity stake of GQ Bio Therapeutics for approximately $32M, net of working capital and other transaction adjustments, to equity holders other than Pacira. The net purchase price includes $18Mof cash paid at closing, $8M to be paid over three years pursuant to a key employee holdback agreement and a post-closing indemnity holdback of $6M. The transaction builds upon Pacira’s previous investments in GQ Bio, as well as the two companies’ partnership for the development of a commercially scalable manufacturing process for PCRX-201 and other products utilizing GQ Bio’s high-capacity adenovirus, or HCAd, gene therapy vector platform. The transaction eliminates Pacira’s obligations for up to $64M in potential future milestone payments, including a $4.5M milestone payment due upon initiation of a Phase 2 clinical trial of PCRX-201, which recently opened for enrollment.