David H. Chung Joins AcelRx Pharmaceuticals as Chief Commercial Officer

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Sept. 4, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- AcelRx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ACRX), a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of innovative therapies for the treatment of acute and breakthrough pain, today announced that David H. Chung has joined the company as chief commercial officer effective September 2, 2013.  Mr. Chung brings over 20 years of hospital-focused, global medical device and pharmaceutical sales and marketing experience, most recently as chief commercial officer at Conceptus, Inc., which was recently acquired by Bayer.  Mr. Chung will provide strategic input to AcelRx and will be responsible for establishing, developing and leading the Company's commercial operations.

"David has extensive sales and marketing experience in the hospital-based products market, and a proven track record of commercial success," said Richard King, AcelRx's president and CEO.  "We are extremely excited to welcome David to the AcelRx executive team, and we look forward to David's leadership in establishing and building a first class commercial organization to support, if approved, launch of Zalviso™ for management of moderate to severe acute pain in the hospital setting."

While at Conceptus, Mr. Chung oversaw the strategic and day-to-day leadership of a global sales and marketing organization that consisted of 144 people.  Prior to Conceptus, Mr. Chung served as president and CEO of Mitralis, an early stage transcatheter mitral valve repair company.  Prior to Mitralis, Mr. Chung held the position of global vice president, commercial operations, Heart Valve Therapy at Edwards Lifesciences/Baxter Healthcare, the culmination of 15 years at the company in various commercial roles of increasing responsibility.  Prior to Baxter, Mr. Chung began his career at Pfizer in a sales capacity in both the medical device and pharmaceutical sales arenas.  Mr. Chung earned a B.S. in general engineering from the United States Military Academy, West Point, N.Y.

About AcelRx Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

AcelRx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of innovative therapies for the treatment of acute and breakthrough pain.  AcelRx's lead product candidate, Zalviso™, is designed to solve the problems associated with post-operative intravenous patient-controlled analgesia which has been shown to cause harm to patients following surgery because of the side effects of morphine, the invasive IV route of delivery and the complexity of infusion pumps.  AcelRx has announced positive results from each of the three Phase 3 clinical trials for Zalviso and AcelRx anticipates submitting a New Drug Application (NDA) with the FDA in the third quarter of 2013.  AcelRx also announced positive top-line results for a Phase 2 trial for ARX-04, a sufentanil formulation for the treatment of moderate-to-severe acute pain, funded through a grant from the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command.  The company has two additional pain treatment product candidates, ARX-02 and ARX-03, which have completed Phase 2 clinical development. For additional information about AcelRx's clinical programs, please visit www.acelrx.com.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, statements related to the process and timing of anticipated future clinical development of AcelRx Pharmaceuticals' product candidates, the potential submission of an NDA for Zalviso and the timing thereof, therapeutic and commercial potential of Zalviso and the anticipated timing and therapeutic and commercial potential of other AcelRx product candidates.  These forward-looking statements are based on AcelRx's current expectations and inherently involve significant risks and uncertainties.  AcelRx's actual results and the timing of events could differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements as a result of these risks and uncertainties, which include, without limitation, risks related to: the success, cost and timing of AcelRx's product development activities and clinical trials; any delays or inability to obtain, regulatory approval of its product candidates; its ability to obtain adequate clinical supplies of the drug and device components of its product candidates; its ability to attract funding partners or collaborators with development, regulatory and commercialization expertise; its ability to obtain sufficient financing to complete development and registration of its product candidates in the United States and Europe; its ability to obtain and maintain regulatory approvals of its product candidates; the market potential for its product candidates; the accuracy of AcelRx's estimates regarding expenses, capital requirements and needs for financing; and other risks detailed in the "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in AcelRx's U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings and reports, including its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the three months ended June 30, 2013, filed August 12, 2013.  AcelRx undertakes no duty or obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this release as a result of new information, future events or changes in its expectations.

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SOURCE AcelRx Pharmaceuticals, Inc.