Pacira Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced that its Phase 4 study of EXPAREL® (bupivacaine liposome injectable suspension) in patients undergoing Cesarean section (C-section) achieved its primary endpoint with a statistically significant reduction in total postsurgical opioid consumption through 72 hours (P=0.05). EXPAREL also achieved statistical significance for reduction in pain intensity scores through 72 hours (P=0.05). The full study results will be submitted for publication in the peer-reviewed medical literature later 2019. Importantly, the study also achieved statistical significance (P=0.05) for relevant additional endpoints pre-specified in the statistical analysis plan to better characterize the clinical benefit of the opioid reduction, including: Total opioid consumption at one and two weeks following C-section, Percentage of opioid-spared patients, a composite endpoint, which was defined as patients who took no more than one oxycodone 10 mg tablet (or equivalent) and graded their bother or stress from the following opioid-related adverse events as “not at all”: vomiting, itching, sweating, freezing, or dizziness. This was a multicenter, randomized, double-blind study including a total of 13 sites and 186 patients. Patients undergoing elective C-section and given spinal anesthesia were randomized to receive EXPAREL or the active comparator bupivacaine HCl. Patients in the EXPAREL arm were administered a transversus abdominis plane (TAP) field block with 10 mL EXPAREL admixed with 10 mL 0.25% bupivacaine HCl and 10 mL normal sterile saline injected bilaterally (for a total volume of 60 mL). Patients in the active comparator arm received a TAP field block with 10 mL 0.25% bupivacaine HCl admixed with 20 mL normal sterile saline injected bilaterally (for a total volume of 60 mL).