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Access Pharmaceuticals Announces Private Placement of $5.2 Million

admin — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 15:52:24 +0000

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Dallas and New York, November 2, 2011

ACCESS PHARMACEUTICALS, INC. (OTCBB:ACCP), a biopharmaceutical company leveraging its proprietary drug-delivery platforms to develop treatments in areas of oncology, cancer supportive care and diabetes, announced that it has entered into definitive agreements for the purchase of $5.2 million of units, consisting of Access common stock and warrants in a private placement financing with a select group of institutional and accredited investors. Each unit consists of the one share of common stock at $1.45 share price, with 50% warrant coverage with an exercise price of $1.67 per share and a term of two and half years and 50% warrant coverage with an exercise price of $2.00 per share and a term of five years. The Company is required to file a resale registration statement within 30 days following the closing that covers the resale by the investors of the shares and the shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants. The transaction is expected to close on or about November 7, 2011, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions.

“We believe this financing gives us the necessary resources to advance MuGard significantly in the United States and globally,” said Jeffrey Davis, CEO of Access Pharmaceuticals, Inc. He continued, “We appreciate the continued support of our investors.”

Cowen and Company, LLC and Rodman & Renshaw LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Rodman & Renshaw Capital Group, Inc., acted as the exclusive co-placement agents for the offering.

The securities issued in this private placement have not been registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or any state securities laws, and were issued and sold in a private placement pursuant to Regulation D of the Securities Act.

About Access:

Access Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is an emerging biopharmaceutical company that develops and commercializes proprietary products for the treatment and supportive care of cancer patients. Access’ products include MuGard™ (www.MuGard.com), which has received FDA marketing clearance for the management of patients with mucositis, ProLindac™, a second generation DACH Platinum in Phase 2 clinical testing of patients with ovarian cancer, and Thiarabine™, a novel nucleoside analog that has demonstrated both pre-clinical and clinical activity in certain cancers; currently in a Phase 1/2a trial in hematological malignancies at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas.

The company also has other advanced drug delivery technologies including CobaCyte™-mediated targeted delivery and CobOral-oral drug delivery, its proprietary nanopolymer delivery technology based on the natural vitamin B12 uptake mechanism. For additional information on Access Pharmaceuticals, please visit our website at www.accesspharma.com.

This press release contains certain statements that are forward-looking within the meaning of Section 27a of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and that involve risks and uncertainties. These statements include those relating to: our cash burn rate, clinical trial plans and timelines and clinical results for ProLindac, MuGard, Thiarabine and Cobalamin and other product candidates, our ability to achieve clinical and commercial success and our ability to successfully develop marketed products. These statements are subject to numerous risks, including but not limited to Access’ need to obtain additional financing in order to continue the clinical trial and operations and to the risks detailed in Access’ Annual Reports on Form 10-K and other reports filed by Access with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Access Pharmaceuticals and CuraScript Team Up to Further Expand MuGard Market Access and Distribution

admin — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 08:17:49 +0000

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Dallas and New York, NY, September 07, 2011

ACCESS PHARMACEUTICALS, INC. (OTCBB:ACCP), a biopharmaceutical company leveraging its proprietary drug-delivery platforms to develop treatments in areas of oncology, cancer supportive care and diabetes, announced that it has contracted with CuraScript, a healthcare subsidiary of Express Scripts (NasdaqGS:ESRX), to expand its specialty pharmacy and third party logistics networks for its oral mucositis product, MuGard. CuraScript Specialty Pharmacy (SPP), the specialty division of Express Scripts, will provide MuGard to the patients within their expansive network. In addition, Access has contracted with CuraScript Specialty Distribution, its third party logistics division, to warehouse MuGard and serve as its specialty distributor and wholesaler for specialty pharmacy providers.

“We are very excited about working with Access Pharmaceuticals as a fully integrated supply chain partner,” said Kevin Cast, Express Scripts’ Vice President of Strategy and Contracting, Pharma and Biotech. He continued, “The award of an exclusive 3PL position and preferred Specialty Pharmacy position for MuGard is absolute validation of Express Scripts’ commitment to providing vital access solutions for pharmaceutical and biotech organizations.”

CuraScript Specialty Pharmacy is a wholly owned subsidiary of Express Scripts, one of the nation’s largest pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). CuraScript manages the largest number of exclusive Pharma/Biotech programs in the industry and has been involved in nearly every specialty product launch over the last eight years. CuraScript currently services more than 1,800 payers that cover approximately 60 to 65 million lives. CuraScript’s Third Party Logistics (3PL) services provide customized logistics programs, inventory management, consignment-based inventory, accounts receivable, and customer service functionality on behalf of Pharma/Biotech clients.

“We are pleased to be teaming up with CuraScript and Express Scripts to expand our specialty pharmacy and distribution capabilities,” said Anthony Mottola, Vice President Managed Care and Market Access, Access Pharmaceuticals, Inc. He continued, “We are strongly committed to increasing MuGard market access for cancer patients undergoing radiation and chemotherapy and having a strong partner like CuraScript in place is a critical step in expanding our infrastructure to continue meeting the growing demand for MuGard.”

About MuGard:

MuGard is a novel; ready-to-use mucoadhesive oral wound rinse and coating for the management of oral mucositis, a debilitating side effect of many anticancer treatments. Up to 40% of all patients receiving chemotherapy and radiotherapy develop moderate to severe mucositis, and almost all patients receiving radiotherapy for head and neck cancer and those undergoing stem cell transplantation develop mucositis. Updated clinical practice guidelines for the prevention and treatment of mucositis recommend the use of a preventive oral care regimen as part of routine supportive care along with a therapeutic oral care regimen if mucositis develops. The market for the treatment of oral mucositis is estimated to be in excess of $1 billion world-wide. For more information, please visit www.MuGard.com.

Investor Conference Call Reminder:

An investor conference call is scheduled to be held today at 11:00 am EDT. Interested parties may participate by dialing 877-407-4019 (US) or 201-689-8337 (International) approximately five to ten minutes before the call start time. A replay of the call will be available starting on September 7th at 1:00 pm EDT, through September 21, 2011 until 11:59 pm EDT. Interested parties may access the replay by dialing 877-660-6853 (US) or 201-612-7415 (International) and entering account number 383 and conference ID number 377785.

About Access:

ACCESS PHARMACEUTICALS TO PRESENT AT RODMAN & RENSHAW ANNUAL GLOBAL INVESTMENT CONFERENCE ON MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 12TH IN NEW YORK CITY

admin — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 20:17:40 +0000

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Investor Call Scheduled for Tomorrow, Wednesday, September 7^th at 11:00 a.m. EDT

Dallas, TX and New York, NY, September 06, 2011

ACCESS PHARMACEUTICALS, INC. (OTCBB: ACCP), a biopharmaceutical company leveraging its proprietary drug-delivery platforms to develop treatments in areas of oncology, cancer supportive care and diabetes, announced that the Company’s management team will present at the Rodman & Renshaw Annual Healthcare Conference on Monday, September 12^th at 2:25p.m., in the Metropolitan West Room at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, New York City. Jeffrey Davis, Chief Executive Officer of Access Pharmaceuticals, will give a presentation focused on the Company’s lead product for oral mucositis, MuGard and detail the development strategy for ongoing programs within its drug pipeline.

A live webcast of the presentation may be accessed by clicking on the following link: http://www.wsw.com/webcast/rrshq20/accp .To arrange a meeting with Access management at the conference, please email Christine Berni, christine.berni@accesspharma.com.

Conference Call Reminder:

The investor conference call is scheduled to be held tomorrow, Wednesday, September 7, 2011 at 11:00 am EDT. Interested parties may participate by dialing 877-407-4019 (US) or 201-689-8337 (International) approximately five to ten minutes before the call start time. A replay of the call will be available starting on September 7^th at 1:00 pm EDT, through September 21, 2011 until 11:59 pm EDT. Interested parties may access the replay by dialing 877-660-6853 (US) or 201-612-7415 (International) and entering account number 383 and conference ID number 377785.

About MuGard:

About Access:

ACCESS PHARMACEUTICALS PROVIDES SECOND QUARTER UPDATE ON MUGARD COMMERCIAL ACTIVITIES

admin — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 15:00:08 +0000

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Company Schedules Investor Conference Call For Wednesday, September 7th at 11:00AM EDT

Dallas, TX and New York, NY, August 16, 2011

ACCESS PHARMACEUTICALS, INC. (OTCBB: ACCP), a biopharmaceutical company leveraging its proprietary drug-delivery platforms to develop treatments in areas of oncology, diabetes, and RNAi, has announced its second quarter 2011 investor conference call and the recent progress in its MuGard program. MuGard is a mucoadhesive oral wound rinse and coating that has been shown to be very effective in the management of oral mucositis, a debilitating side effect of many anticancer treatments. The investor conference call is scheduled to be held on Wednesday, September 7, 2011 at 11:00 am EDT. Interested parties may participate by dialing 877-407-4019 (US) or 201-689-8337 (International) approximately five to ten minutes before the call start time.

Second Quarter 2011 Highlights:

• Payer Uptake Accelerates: Throughout the second quarter, Access made significant progress in increasing reimbursement for MuGard throughout the U.S. From pharmacy benefit manager (PBM), CVS Caremark, to insurance payers like, TRICARE, Humana, United Healthcare, Harvard Pilgrim, SummaCare, Amerigroup and several Blue Cross Blue Shield state plans, reimbursement for MuGard is available for over 65 million lives and growing.

• MuGard PRSC: In mid-July, Access launched the MuGard Patient Reimbursement and Support Center (PRSC), also known as the MuGard HUB, to serve as a centralized patient referral center that improves patient access to MuGard by enhancing product distribution and facilitating payment for MuGard by insurance carriers. The MuGard HUB is handling reimbursement currently, and having success with both private payers as well as supplemental insurance plans of Medicare patients.

• Salesforce Management: In 2Q 2011, Access sales reps continued its broad-scale marketing push for MuGard. Access has identified under-resourced geographic areas and has added additional coverage. Access continues to have discussions with potential co-promotion partners.

• Specialty Pharmacy Networks: Additionally in the second quarter, Access began executing on its distribution strategy to expand its specialty distribution and market access arrangements nationwide. As recently announced, CSPN, Community Specialty Pharmacy Network, joined Access’ specialty pharmacy network. Access continues exploring additional specialty pharmacy and distribution networks to further propel its MuGard national market access program.

• MuGard Prescriptions Ramping: MuGard prescriptions continued ramping throughout the second quarter, with a greater than 90% increase in quarterly prescription totals from 1Q 2010. Sites prescribing MuGard continue to provide feedback and anecdotal evidence of positive clinical experiences. Over 500 doctors have prescribed MuGard for their patients and over 75% of these doctors are recurring prescribers.

• Manufacturing and Distribution: Due to the significant prescription ramp and MuGard access program, Access successfully completed its second commercial manufacturing run of MuGard product. Access produced approximately three times as much MuGard product during its second commercial production run to meet the ongoing demands of the market.

• Public Relations Campaign: Access believes it is at the right point in the MuGard growth story to begin increasing awareness of its oral mucositis product in the consumer and trade media outlets. To aid in its effort to raise the profile of MuGard in the media, Access sought out an industry leader, Edelman Worldwide, to convey the key messages and competitive advantages associated with MuGard. Through this campaign, Access aims to reach a broad audience, comprised of patients, caregivers, doctors, nurses and oncology professionals to continue educating them on the clear clinical benefit gained by using MuGard from day one of cancer treatment.

• Ongoing Patient and Clinician Feedback: Access is focused on growing clinical experience at the oncologist, nurse practitioner, nurse and patient levels. Clinical data and anecdotal feedback from clinicians, nurses and patients across the US is ongoing. Access continues receiving overwhelmingly positive clinical feedback on MuGard from healthcare providers and patients from a broad spectrum of clinical settings, treatment regimens and tumor types.

Management Comments:

“Access has made significant progress in building the necessary infrastructure to support the growth and demand for the oral mucositis treatment,” said Jeffrey Davis, President and CEO of Access Pharmaceuticals, Inc. He continued, “The third party payer uptake, specialty pharmacy network and pharmacy benefit manager additions reflect that we have the strategy and team in place to address the growing need for MuGard in the marketplace. We remain focused and committed to continuing on this trajectory, to ultimately provide patients control against oral mucositis from day one of their cancer treatment regimens.”

Anthony Mottola, Vice President Managed Care and Market Access for Access Pharmaceuticals, Inc. stated, “We are pleased with the progress made on the reimbursement front throughout the second quarter. Having worked diligently to pursue each milestone and execute each accomplishment ahead of schedule, we have exceeded my expectations. We now look to keep the momentum going by advancing our active discussions with additional payers and PBMs.”

Conference Call Details:
The investor conference call is scheduled to be held on Wednesday, September 7, 2011 at 11:00 am EDT. Interested parties may participate by dialing 877-407-4019 (US) or 201-689-8337 (International) approximately five to ten minutes before the call start time.

A replay of the call will be available starting on September 7th at 1:00 pm EDT, through September 21, 2011 until 11:59 pm EDT. Interested parties may access the replay by dialing 877-660-6853 (US) or 201-612-7415 (International) and entering account number 383 and conference ID number 377785.

About MuGard:
MuGard is a novel; ready-to-use mucoadhesive oral wound rinse and coating for the management of oral mucositis, a debilitating side effect of many anticancer treatments. Up to 40% of all patients receiving chemotherapy and radiotherapy develop moderate to severe mucositis, and almost all patients receiving radiotherapy for head and neck cancer and those undergoing stem cell transplantation develop mucositis. Updated clinical practice guidelines for the prevention and treatment of mucositis recommend the use of a preventive oral care regimen as part of routine supportive care along with a therapeutic oral care regimen if mucositis develops. The market for the treatment of oral mucositis is estimated to be in excess of $1 billion world-wide. For more information, please visit www.MuGard.com.

About Access:
Access Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is an emerging biopharmaceutical company that develops and commercializes proprietary products for the treatment and supportive care of cancer patients. Access’ products include MuGard™ (www.MuGard.com), which has received FDA marketing clearance for the management of patients with mucositis, ProLindac™, a second generation DACH Platinum in Phase 2 clinical testing of patients with ovarian cancer, and Thiarabine™, a novel nucleoside analog that has demonstrated both pre-clinical and clinical activity in certain cancers; currently in a Phase 1/2a trial in hematological malignancies at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas.

ACCESS PHARMACEUTICALS RETAINS EDELMAN AS PUBLIC RELATIONS FIRM

admin — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 19:38:23 +0000

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Public Relations Firm Focused on Increasing Media Awareness of Company’s

Oral Mucositis Treatment

Dallas, TX and New York, NY, August 05, 2011

ACCESS PHARMACEUTICALS, INC. (OTCBB: ACCP), a biopharmaceutical company leveraging its proprietary drug-delivery platforms to develop treatments in areas of oncology, cancer supportive care and diabetes, has hired Edelman, the leading full service global public relations firm, to support its media outreach initiatives. Edelman will assist Access in implementing a media communications outreach program primarily aimed at introducing MuGard and building awareness of its ability to treat oral mucositis, a potentially debilitating disease which can cause painful inflammation and lesions of the mucous membranes lining the mouth and GI tract.

“Edelman has a great track record in conveying the value of company pipelines to a broad range of media outlets,” said Jeffrey Davis, Chief Executive Officer, Access Pharmaceuticals, Inc. He continued, “We believe we are at the right time in the Access story and the commercialization of MuGard to expand our reach in within trade and consumer publications. As we continue to execute on our strategy of growing the MuGard brand, capitalizing on Edelman’s strategic skills, creativity and global reach to communicate the benefit and control it provides cancer patients will be key in achieving our MuGard education and communications objectives.”

Bruce Hayes, general manager of Health for Edelman in the company’s New York office stated, “We are pleased that Access has made the decision to join our portfolio of health clients. An emerging player in the cancer supportive care industry, Access is helping patients who suffer from oral mucositis. We are confident that our public engagement strategies will assist in building the MuGard brand and raising Access’ visibility among its key audiences.”

About Edelman

Edelman is the world’s largest independent public relations firm, with wholly-owned offices in 53 cities and 3,700 employees worldwide. Edelman was named Advertising Age’s top-ranked PR firm of the decade and one of its “2010 A-List Agencies” and “2010 Best Places to Work;” PRWeek’s “2011 Large PR Agency of the Year” and “2009 Agency of the Year;” European Excellence Awards’ “2010 Agency of the Year;” Holmes Report’s “Agency of the Decade” and “2009 Asia Pacific Consultancy of the Year;” and among Glassdoor’s top five “2011 Best Places to Work.” Visit http://www.edelman.com for more information.

About Access Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

ACCESS PHARMACEUTICALS LAUNCHES MUGARD PATIENT REIMBURSEMENT AND SUPPORT CENTER

admin — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 14:34:52 +0000

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MuGard HUB to Provide Central Access to a National Distribution Network of Specialty Pharmacy Providers of Most Major U.S. Health Plans

Dallas, TX and New York, NY, July 28, 2011 – ACCESS PHARMACEUTICALS, INC. (OTCBB: ACCP), a biopharmaceutical company leveraging its proprietary drug-delivery platforms to develop treatments in areas of oncology, cancer supportive care and diabetes, has launched its patient reimbursement and support center for its lead product for oral mucositis, MuGard. Referred to as a HUB, the MuGard Patient Reimbursement and Support Center (MuGard PRSC) operated by eMax Health provides a centralized patient referral center that improves patient access to MuGard by enhancing product distribution and facilitating payment for MuGard by insurance carriers. Some services of the MuGard PRSC include:

• 24/7 call center staffed with nurses and benefits specialists to provide Insurance verification and prior authorization for MuGard prescriptions
• Enrollment in and administration of MuGard patient assistance programs
• Patient clinical support and proactive patient counseling with trained registered nurses
• Administration of MuGard adherence programs designed to help patients complete their prescribed course of treatment
• A reimbursement hotline for MuGard prescribers with insurance coverage inquiries
• Central access to a national distribution network of specialty pharmacy providers with in-network or preferred-provider status of most major U.S. health plans

Anthony Mottola, Vice President of Market Access of Access Pharmaceuticals, Inc., stated, “We are excited to launch the MuGard Patient Reimbursement and Support Center which is actively working to improve patient outcomes and control health care cost for patients with oral mucositis. We have worked closely with eMax in developing and scaling up the MuGard PRSC and we believe we are well positioned with this component of our multi-faceted reimbursement and market access plan to further facilitate reimbursement for patients using MuGard.”

“We are pleased to be working in partnership with Access Pharmaceuticals to help patients and their providers obtain the medicine needed to more effectively manage oral mucositis,” said Julian Casciano, CEO of eMax Health. He continued, “Through a centralized patient intake and referral management center supported by our national network of specialty pharmacy providers, we are able to improve access to MuGard for patients that need it.”

ACCESS PHARMACEUTICALS MUGARD ADDED TO CVS CAREMARK’S PHARMACY BENEFIT NETWORK

admin — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 16:15:07 +0000

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Dallas, TX and New York, NY, July 14, 2011

ACCESS PHARMACEUTICALS, INC. (OTCBB: ACCP), a biopharmaceutical company leveraging its proprietary drug-delivery platforms to develop treatments in areas of oncology, cancer supportive care and diabetes, announced that its lead product for oral mucositis, MuGard, has been added to CVS Caremark’s pharmacy benefit network. Reimbursement coverage for MuGard is now available with standard pharmacy benefit copayment. Placement in the pharmacy benefit plan will assist in driving increased reimbursement coverage of MuGard.

CVS Caremark is the largest pharmacy health care provider in the United States. As one of the country’s largest pharmacy benefits managers (PBMs), CVS Caremark covers 50 million lives and 2,000 different insurance benefits plans. Several Managed Care Organizations (MCOs) utilize CVS Caremark’s PBM’s services, including Amerigroup, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Rhode Island, Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Carolina, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee, Federal Employee Program (FEP), Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey and Tufts Health Plan.

“We are pleased with the recent addition to CVS Caremark’s network as it will offer cancer patients increased access to MuGard allowing them the ability to take control of their anticancer regimen from day one and significantly reduce the onset and severity of oral mucositis,” said Anthony Mottola, Vice President, Managed Care and Market Access, Access Pharmaceuticals, Inc. He continued, “We look forward to a long relationship with CVS Caremark and are committed to working with other pharmacy benefit managers, as well as adding more payers and programs to continue making MuGard more readily available to cancer patients.”

About MuGard:

About Access:

ACCESS PHARMACEUTICALS MUGARD INCLUDED IN TRICARE PRESCRIPTION DRUG COVERAGE

admin — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 16:11:10 +0000

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Dallas, TX and New York, NY, July 19, 2011

ACCESS PHARMACEUTICALS, INC. (OTCBB: ACCP), a biopharmaceutical company leveraging its proprietary drug-delivery platforms to develop treatments in areas of oncology, cancer supportive care and diabetes, announced that its lead product for oral mucositis, MuGard, is being covered by TRICARE, the U.S. military health plan for active duty service members and retirees of the seven uniformed services, their family members, survivors and others who are registered in the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS). With over nine million lives, TRICARE now provides coverage for MuGard under its various insurance plan options with standard pharmacy benefit copayment.

“To have TRICARE add MuGard to its prescription drug coverage is very encouraging as it demonstrates the reimbursement plan and pharmacoeconomic MuGard benefit education program is resonating well with third party payer programs,” said Anthony Mottola, Vice President, Managed Care and Market Access, Access Pharmaceuticals, Inc. He continued, “Payer outreach is a primary component of our multi-faceted approach to increase MuGard reimbursement across the US and we look forward to keeping patients, doctors, caregivers and shareholders updated on our continued progress with payers, pharmacy benefit managers and patient assistant programs.”

About TRICARE:
TRICARE is a family of health plans for Military Health System. TRICARE responds to the challenge of maintaining medical combat readiness while providing the best health services for all eligible beneficiaries. The TRICARE plans integrate and supplement the MHS capability in providing health benefits in peacetime for all eligible beneficiaries. TRICARE brings together the worldwide health resources of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard and commissioned corps of the Public Health Service (often referred to as “direct care”), and supplements this capability with network and non-network civilian health professionals, hospitals, pharmacies, and suppliers (referred to as “purchased care”) to provide better access and high-quality service, while maintaining the capability to support military operations.

ACCESS PHARMACEUTICALS ANNOUNCES RESTUCTURING OF OUTSTANDING SENIOR CONVERTIBLE NOTE

admin — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 16:09:08 +0000

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Dallas, TX and New York, NY, July 12, 2011

ACCESS PHARMACEUTICALS, INC. (OTCBB: ACCP), a biopharmaceutical company leveraging its proprietary drug-delivery platforms to develop treatments in areas of oncology, cancer supportive care and diabetes, announced that it has signed an agreement to restructure the outstanding senior convertible promissory note scheduled to mature this year. The amended agreement provides for extension of 50% of the principal amount of the note until September 13, 2012. The restructured agreement provides for the acceleration of payments to the note holder in the event of a corporate licensing or partnering transaction.

“We appreciate the note holder’s continued support of Access’ programs,” said Jeffrey B. Davis, President and CEO. “The extension of the note, combined with ongoing MuGard commercialization activities and business development efforts, provides additional flexibility with respect to our corporate strategy.”

About MuGard:

About Access:

Access Pharmaceuticals Provides Update On MuGard Commercial Activities

admin — Tue, 17 May 2011 14:46:31 +0000

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MuGard Prescriptions Ramping; Ongoing Positive Clinical Experience in Radiation Oncology and Medical Oncology; Demand Necessitates Initiation of Significantly Larger Second Commercial Manufacturing Run

Company Schedules Investor Conference Call For Tuesday, May 24th at 11:00AM EDT

Dallas, TX and New York, NY, May 17, 2011

ACCESS PHARMACEUTICALS, INC. (OTCBB: ACCP), a biopharmaceutical company leveraging its proprietary drug-delivery platforms to develop treatments in areas of oncology, diabetes, and RNAi, announced that it had made significant progress with the commercial introduction of MuGard in the radiation oncology and medical oncology communities. MuGard is a novel, ready-to-use mucoadhesive oral wound rinse and coating that has been shown to be very effective in the management of oral mucositis, a debilitating side effect of many anticancer treatments. Access provided the following information related to its ongoing commercialization efforts:

Salesforce Management: At the end of 2010, Access commenced training of third-party MuGard representatives on the product, the oral mucositis condition and sales strategy. These reps initiated a broad-scale marketing push that will continue throughout 2011. While greater than 90 reps have received initial MuGard training, efforts to identify and train additional representatives in uncovered or under-resourced geographic areas will also remain a focus throughout the year.
MuGard Prescriptions Ramping: MuGard prescriptions have been ramping consistently for the last several weeks, starting from 10 prescriptions per week and growing to greater than 75 prescriptions per week. Over 200 doctors to date have prescribed MuGard for their patients and over 80% of these doctors are reoccurring prescribers. Access believes it has the right team and resources in place and to continue ramping prescriptions throughout the year.
Reimbursement Activities: The Company has placed a significant emphasis on its sampling and marketing efforts to build demand, grow oncologist awareness and increase payer uptake. To date, Access has received nationally recognized insurance reimbursement including select state and Federal plans from Blue Cross Blue Shield, United Healthcare, Humana, Anthem and Medicaid. Access has allocated additional resources to address reimbursement with the recent hiring of Anthony Mottola, Vice President of Managed Care and Market Access, and anticipates announcing the addition of outside groups to assist in ongoing aggressive third party payer outreach programs, and distribution activities.
Commitment to Clinical Excellence: Given the significant clinical benefit of MuGard to all cancer patients suffering with oral mucositis, Access is committed to providing access to MuGard for all patients during its initial commercial introduction of the product. The goal of this effort is to build nationwide clinical experience at the oncologist, nurse practitioner, nurse and patient levels, such that the oncology community continues to write MuGard prescriptions and experiences the significant clinical benefits of MuGard. As reflected below and on the testimonial page of the MuGard website, Access is pleased to report that clinical feedback on MuGard from healthcare providers and patients has been extremely positive in a broad spectrum of clinical settings, treatment regimens and tumor types.
Manufacturing and Distribution: The significant prescription ramp and MuGard access program has required Access to initiate, earlier than expected, its second commercial manufacturing run of MuGard product. Access will produce approximately four times as much MuGard product during this second commercial production run to meet the ongoing demands of the market. Additionally, Access is exploring additional wholesaling and specialty distribution arrangements nationwide, consistent with anticipated production and product revenue levels.
MuGard Clinical Data: Access is driving additional reimbursement nationally through both commercial acceptance and demand for the product, and supplementary MuGard clinical data. Additional MuGard clinical studies, both investigator sponsored and otherwise, in the US and abroad, are ongoing or completed, and Access anticipates announcements of clinical data, including that from randomized and controlled clinical trials, throughout 2011 and 2012.

Access continues to collect clinical data and anecdotal feedback from clinicians, nurses and patients across the US. Recent testimonials, all of which will be included in the testimonial page of www.MuGard.com, include the following:

“…Mucositis is a debilitating condition and there is a strong need to find a treatment…our experience with MuGard has been that it provides tremendous relief to our oral mucositis patients, and we will continue to recommend it and prescribe it our patients.”

-Sawsan Bishay M.D., Larry Gandle, M.D., and Arthur Markowitz, M.D., Florida Cancer Institue – New Hope

“…We are currently recommending MuGard to all of our head and neck patients.”

-Steven Lane, M.D. and Sarah Usher RN MSN OCN
Signature Healthcare Brockton Hospital, Vantage Oncology – Brockton, MA

“…Mucositis has been an expected side effect that causes our patients significant pain and even treatment delays at times. MuGard is the best product I’ve seen at preventing oral mucositis … Patients find it very convenient that MuGard is ready to use without mixing and safe to swallow … We look forward to using MuGard for our future head and neck cancer patients.”

-Bonnie Arritola, RN, BSN, OCN, Health ONE Hospital – Denver, CO

“Access is extremely pleased with the initial progress with the commercial roll-out of MuGard,” stated Jeffrey B. Davis, President and CEO, Access Pharmaceuticals. “Clinical feedback has been extremely positive, and we as a Company remain committed to getting this very important treatment option to doctors, nurses and patients. Oral mucositis, while not widely understood by the investing public, is a very large and growing healthcare unmet clinical need; MuGard meets that need.”

“The MuGard prescription ramp is exceeding my expectations,” said Frank Jacobucci, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Access Pharmaceuticals. “Access continues to identify and train additional MuGard representatives to further expand our footprint in the US, and believes this will add significantly to current prescription growth, clinical experience and general MuGard awareness.”

“The very positive clinical feedback and commercial uptake of MuGard had a significant impact on my decision to join Access Pharmaceuticals,” stated Anthony Mottola, Vice President, Managed Care and Market Access. “I am spearheading internal efforts to expand third party payor outreach, enhance our nationwide distribution capabilities, and add certain components to our offering such as hotline services and additional hub and distribution capabilities. We will announce additional collaborations in this area as they occur.”

Investor Conference Call Details:

An investor conference call is scheduled to be held on Tuesday, May 24, 2011 at 11:00 am EDT. Interested parties may participate by dialing 877-407-4019 (US) or 201-689-8337 (International) approximately five to ten minutes before the call start time. A replay of the call will be available starting on May 24, 2011 at 1:00 pm EDT, through June 07, 2011 until 11:59 pm EDT. Interested parties may access the replay by dialing 877-660-6853 (US) or 201-612-7415 (International) and entering account number 383 and conference ID number 372986.

About MuGard:

About Access: