Access Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Signs $30M MuGard Supply Agreement With RHEI Pharmaceuticals HK LTD.

Sub-license to Jian An Pharmaceuticals Provides Extensive Infrastructure to Support Sales and Marketing of MuGard in China

DALLAS and NEW YORK, Sept. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Access Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: ACCP), a biopharmaceutical company specializing in products for cancer and supportive care signed a $30 million supply agreement for MuGard with RHEI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ("RHEI"), a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on bringing proprietary medicines to the China market.  Access will ensure manufacturing capacity of up to a minimum of $30 million of product in the licensed territories.   Coinciding with the signing of the above agreement, Access also approved a sub-license agreement between RHEI Pharmaceuticals and Jian An Pharmaceuticals ("Jian An") Limited in Shenzhen, China in an effort to leverage Jian An's extensive sales, marketing and regulatory infrastructure for the launch of MuGard in China and Taiwan.

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Jian An is headquartered in Shenzhen, China and has a 25-year history of selling pharmaceutical and other medical products in the China market.  Jian An has 1400 sales representatives covering all majors centers in China through 169 sales offices.  With Jian An's sales and marketing infrastructure and the supply agreement which will provide up to $30 million of MuGard to the territory, Access Pharmaceuticals' commercialization efforts remain on track in China and its other South East Asian territories.  Access retains its existing milestone and royalty structure for the territory.  In addition, Access and RHEI have also filed a new patent application in China covering MuGard for the relief and reduction of erythema. This new application is expected to provide additional IP protection as well as the potential for a new indication for MuGard.

"We are excited about the new relationship with Jian An in China, as it greatly expands our reach throughout the region with significant sales representative presence," said Sven de Backer, CFO of RHEI Pharmaceuticals. He continued, "We believe Jian An's local expertise will expedite the ongoing marketing approval process allowing us to begin providing patients with an effective treatment for oral mucositis.  We are thankful to Access for ensuring adequate MuGard supply for the commercial launch."

"We look forward to working with Access and RHEI and bringing MuGard to market in China," said Zhan Zhangyi, CEO of Jian An Pharmaceuticals.  He continued, "We believe MuGard is the right product to help us continue increasing our pharmaceutical market penetration in China.  MuGard is an important addition to our growing product portfolio and we look forward to its commercial launch."

"Oral mucositis is a growing problem in the greater China region and we are confident that RHEI's marketing capabilities, with the addition of Jain An's established product-promotion experience, will greatly enhance our effort to bring MuGard to the many patients that may otherwise suffer from the debilitating side effect of anticancer treatments," said Jeffrey Davis, CEO of Access Pharmaceuticals, Inc.  He continued, "The recent news surrounding MuGard, including this agreement and the initial product purchase order received in the US, underscores the significant revenue potential we believe MuGard will provide our company."

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 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 www.accesspharma.com.

About RHEI Pharmaceuticals:

Rhei Pharmaceuticals Ltd. (RHEI) is a global pharmaceutical business development firm, with special focus on bringing core medicines from the U.S., Europe and Japan into the fast-growing South-East Asian marketplace. They are experts in business development, regulatory approval and clinical development and have a management team that combines a Western approach to pharmaceuticals with a long experience in Europe, North America and South-East Asia. They use their development capabilities and network of preferred commercial partners to help other pharmaceutical companies introduce their products into specific niche markets, such as the European institutional health care market and the Chinese hospital market. RHEI is headquartered in Hong Kong and has operations in Belgium, the US and China. www.rheipharma.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.