SkyePharma Inc changes name to Pacira

USA-based SkyePharma Inc is now called Pacira Pharmaceuticals. The new name change reflects Pacira's divestment from UK drug-delivery specialist SkyePharma in March to an independent, private company with existing commercial products, a compound in clinical development and novel drug delivery technologies for the sustained release of injectable pharmaceuticals.

Pacira Pharmaceuticals is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Pacira Inc, a Delaware corporation, which is controlled and funded by a group of financial investors including Sanderling Ventures, HBM Bioventures, OrbiMed Advisors and MPM Capital. The firm is based in San Diego, California, and focuses on formulating, developing and manufacturing controlled-release injectable products based on two proprietary drug-delivery platforms: DepoFoam and Biosphere. Pacira generates revenues from two marketed products: DepoCyt for lymphomatous meningitis and DepoDur for the treatment of post-surgical pain.