Access Pharmaceuticals Launches MuGard Patient Reimbursement and Support Center

DALLAS and NEW YORK, July 28, 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, 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." 

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.  

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.