PARSIPPANY, N.J. (AP) — Pacira Pharmaceuticals Inc. said Monday that the Food and Drug Administration approved its drug Exparel, which is intended to treat pain following surgery.

The company said it plans to start marketing the drug to hospitals in January, focusing at first on abdominal soft tissue surgeries. Exparel is a long-acting drug that is designed to treat pain for up to three days after surgery. It does not contain opioids. Pacira said it has hired 63 sales representatives, and they will ultimately market the drug for use after abdominal surgeries, plastic surgeries like breast augmentations and abdominoplasties, and balloon-pump replacements.

Pacira also reported its third-quarter results. The company said it lost $9.5 million, or 55 cents per share. A year ago it took a bigger loss of $7.9 million, or $13.77 per share. Its revenue declined to $4 million from $4.5 million.

Analysts expected the company to report a loss of 54 cents per share and $4 million in revenue, according to FactSet.

The company said its selling, general and administrative costs grew to $5 million from $1.7 million. Pacira had about 17.2 million shares on the market in the third quarter of 2011, compared to 574,000 a year earlier.

Shares of Pacira slipped 40 cents, or 4 percent, to $9.78 in Monday trading.