Exhibit 99.1
Heron Therapeutics Announces Partnership with CrossLink Life Sciences to Expand Promotional Effort for ZYNRELEF®, the First and Only Non-Opioid Dual Acting Local Anesthetic for Post-Operative Pain
SAN DIEGO, January 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Heron Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: HRTX), a commercial-stage biotechnology company, today announced that it
has entered into a five-year distributor partnership with CrossLink Life Sciences, LLC to expand the sales network supporting ZYNRELEF®
(bupivacaine and meloxicam) extended-release solution.
The partnership will launch in several phases, initially at a regional level, followed by an
expanded national rollout. In total, approximately 650 representatives will be added to Heron’s sales network over the next year. CrossLink will be the lead partner in the United States to expand ZYNRELEF promotion for orthopedic indications.
Under the terms of the agreement, CrossLink is compensated on a fixed-fee per vial basis, based on growth over a pre-determined baseline period.
“This partnership will allow Heron to expand access to this pain-reducing product for orthopedic surgery patients, allowing more accounts to adopt
ZYNRELEF as an essential part of their surgical procedures,” said Craig Collard, Chief Executive Officer of Heron. “CrossLink has a proven track record of success in building relationships, providing superior service to healthcare
providers and improving patient outcomes. We look forward to kicking off a successful collaboration and further positioning Heron to deliver substantial value and impact patient lives in the coming years.”
“We are excited about the partnership with Heron and its upcoming potential expansion of the ZYNRELEF label and the vial-access needle (VAN) which will
streamline the product preparation. We have seen first-hand the impact that ZYNRELEF can have on post-operative pain, and our team is excited to deliver ZYNRELEF to more patients across the country,” said Thomas Fleetwood, Chief Executive
Officer of CrossLink.
CrossLink is the largest private orthopedic, spine and sports medicine device distributorship in the United States, consisting of
experienced sales, operations and logistics teams driven by the foundational goal of improving patient outcomes. Over the past 45 years, its world class specialty sales organization and national network of distributors have become the market leaders
in each of the regional markets they serve.
About ZYNRELEF for Postoperative Pain
ZYNRELEF is the first and only dual-acting local anesthetic that delivers a fixed-dose combination of the local anesthetic bupivacaine and a low dose of
nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug meloxicam. ZYNRELEF is the first and only extended-release local anesthetic to demonstrate in Phase 3 studies significantly reduced pain and significantly increased proportion of patients requiring no opioids
through the first 72 hours following surgery compared to bupivacaine solution, the current standard-of-care local anesthetic for postoperative pain control. ZYNRELEF was
initially approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (the “FDA”) in May 2021 for use in adults for soft tissue or periarticular instillation to produce postsurgical analgesia for up to 72 hours after bunionectomy, open inguinal
herniorrhaphy and total knee arthroplasty. In December 2021, the FDA approved an expansion of ZYNRELEF’s indication. In December 2022, we submitted an sNDA to support the proposed indication for greatly expanded use of ZYNRELEF in soft tissue
and orthopedic surgical procedures. On July 31, 2023, the FDA notified Heron of an extension of the PDUFA approval goal date by three months to provide for a full review of the submission. The FDA has set a new extended PDUFA approval goal date
of January 23, 2024. ZYNRELEF is now indicated in the U.S. in adults for soft tissue or periarticular instillation to produce postsurgical analgesia for up to 72 hours after foot and ankle, small-to-medium open abdominal, and lower extremity total joint arthroplasty surgical procedures. Safety and efficacy have not been established in highly vascular surgeries, such as intrathoracic, large
multilevel spinal, and head and neck procedures. ZYNRELEF was granted a marketing authorization by the European Commission in September 2020 and by the United Kingdom Regulatory Authority in January 2021. In August 2023, we cancelled the ZYNRELEF
U.K. marketing authorization and, in October 2023, we cancelled the ZYNRELEF European Union (EU) marketing authorization, as we do not plan to commercially launch ZYNRELEF in the U.K. or the EU.