Access Pharma Presents at the California NanoSystems Institute Conference Focused on Targeted Delivery of RNAi Therapeutics

Company To Give Two Presentations Highlighting the Advances of Its Cobalamin Technology For Targeted RNAi Delivery Application

DALLAS, June 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- ACCESS PHARMACEUTICALS, INC. (OTC Bulletin Board: ACCP), a biopharmaceutical company specializing in products for cancer and supportive care, announced that its Senior VP of R&D, David Nowotnik, Ph.D., will give two presentations today on the Company's Cobalamin siRNA program at the Novel Nanodelivery of siRNA and miRNA Symposium, hosted by the California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI) of UCLA. Access Pharma's invited oral presentation and its poster presentation will highlight the cell targeting aspects of the Company's proprietary Cobalamin technology and the progress made by its scientist team in applying that technology to the intracellular delivery of RNAi therapeutics.

"We are delighted to have been given the opportunity to present recent data at this important meeting of leaders in the RNAi field," commented David Nowotnik, Ph.D., Access Pharma's Senior Vice President R&D. Dr. Nowotnik continued, "While RNAi therapeutics show immense promise for future treatment of a variety of diseases, their effective delivery into cells and to the nucleus of those cells remains a challenge. By using the body's natural mechanism for cellular absorption of vitamin B12, we believe that Access Pharma's Cobalamin-targeted delivery technology can play an important role in the delivery of RNAi therapeutics."

For more information on the conference, visit: http://cnsi.ctrl.ucla.edu/sirnamirna/pages/

About Cobalamin:

Cobalamin is Access' proprietary technology based upon the use of vitamin B12 for targeted delivery of drugs to disease sites and for oral drug delivery of drugs that otherwise have poor oral bioavailability. Access has focused its Cobalamin product development program on the oral delivery of insulin and human growth hormone, two peptides which currently can only be given by injection. Since presenting promising results at a major conference in mid-2008, Access has made substantial improvements to the formulation technology. A new Cobalamin-coated insulin-containing nanoparticle formulation delivered orally provided a pharmacological response (lowering of blood glucose levels in an animal model of diabetes) equivalent to greater than 80% of that achieved by insulin delivered subcutaneously. This represents a substantial oral bioavailability, indicating that this formulation has potential for clinical development and ultimate commercialization. Adaptation of this technology has provided a Cobalamin human growth hormone formulation that has demonstrated good efficacy, represented by more than 25% improvement in weight gain, when given orally in an established animal model. Access continues to move both products towards clinical development.

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 ProLindac™, currently in Phase II clinical testing of patients with ovarian cancer, and MuGard™ for the management of patients with mucositis. The company also has other advanced drug delivery technologies including Cobalamin™-mediated targeted delivery and oral drug delivery, its proprietary nanopolymer delivery technology based on the natural vitamin B12 uptake mechanism and Thiarabine, a new generation nucleoside analog which has demonstrated both pre-clinical and clinical activity in certain cancers. 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 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.