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

DALLAS and NEW YORK, Sept. 7, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- 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, 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.

SOURCE Access Pharmaceuticals, Inc.