Jiangsu Hengrui Accuses Pacira of Exparel ‘Patent Harassment’

Pacira BioSciences Inc. is engaging in forum-shopping in a “prolonged campaign of patent harassment” to evade more courtroom losses over Exparel, the long-acting injectable painkiller that generated nearly 80% of its 2023 revenue, Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals Co. said in a federal lawsuit.

Jiangsu Hengrui and its eVenus unit asked the US District Court for the District of New Jersey for a judgment that their generic version of Exparel, used for managing postsurgical pain, doesn’t infringe a patent Pacira asserted in an Illinois federal court, according to a complaint filed Tuesday.

Pacira sued Jiangsu Hengrui Dec. 3 alleging its Exparel copy ...