Access Pharmaceuticals Appoints Industry Executive Anthony Mottola as Vice President of Managed Care and Market Access

Mottola To Join Investor Update Conference Call Today At 11:00 am EDT

DALLAS and NEW YORK, March 23, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- ACCESS PHARMACEUTICALS, INC. (OTC Bulletin Board: ACCP), a biopharmaceutical company leveraging its proprietary drug-delivery platforms to develop treatments in areas of oncology, cancer supportive care and diabetes, has named Anthony Mottola as its Vice President of Managed Care and Market Access.  A 16-year industry veteran, Mottola brings to Access an extensive pharmaceutical industry knowledge and experience in specialty pharmacy, healthcare services and reimbursement solutions.  Anthony will lead the overall management of reimbursement and market access for MuGard within Access Pharmaceuticals.  

Prior to joining Access, Anthony served as VP of Trade for BioScrip, where he developed customized distribution strategies, patient access and reimbursement programs to support the successful launch of various products, including MuGard.  He was previously Associate Director National Accounts for Novartis, where he was responsible for the management and development of multiple national accounts, including Specialty Pharmacies, Reimbursement HUB Providers, Specialty distributors, GPO's, Managed Care Plans such as Cigna, Humana, Wellpoint and Government Organizations.  Prior to Novartis, Anthony served in different capacities of sales management, mainly in the oncology area, at Pfizer, US Bioservices and Abbott Laboratories.

Anthony Mottola, Vice President Managed Care and Market Access, Access Pharmaceuticals, stated, "While working with Access at BioScrip, it became clear that MuGard was a superb product in a market relatively untapped by its competitors. I was encouraged to join Access by the enthusiastic patient and clinician support surrounding MuGard and its strong potential to become a market leader.  I look forward to leveraging my experience and relationships to further strengthen Access' sound patient access program for MuGard."

"This appointment is an important step of our MuGard launch in the US," said Jeffrey Davis, CEO of Access Pharmaceuticals, Inc. He continued, "Anthony's hands-on development and reimbursement solutions expertise will be central to our efforts to further build out the necessary infrastructure and capability for the continued growth of our MuGard division."

Anthony Mottola will join Access Pharmaceuticals' Investor Update Call scheduled for later 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 March 23, 2011 at 1:00 pm EDT, through March 30, 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 368488. An archived webcast of the conference call also will be available on the Access Pharma website at www.accesspharma.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.



Contact: Company

Contact: Investor Relations

Christine Berni

Donald C. Weinberger/Diana Bittner (media)

Director of Investor Relations

Wolfe Axelrod Weinberger Assoc. LLC

Access Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

(212) 370-4500

(212) 786-6208






SOURCE Access Pharmaceuticals, Inc.