Access highlights clinical benefits of MuGard at ESMO conference

Access Pharmaceuticals, Inc.Oct 11 2010

Access Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: ACCP), a biopharmaceutical company specializing in products for cancer and supportive care, announced the highlights from a poster presentation on European clinical experience of MuGard at this year's European Society of Medical Oncology Conference in Milan, Italy.  Some of the findings reported in the ESMO presentation included:

• MuGard provided a significant improvement and/or stabilization of oral mucositis lesions and symptoms of oral mucositis (OM) in more than 75% of cancer patients treated with radiotherapy/chemotherapy;
• Patients reported a 52% significant reduction in oral discomfort (oral pain and swallowing ability) in patients with pre-existing lesions of OM, and reported a substantial reduction in the use of pain medication;
• MuGard has a ready-to-use formulation that is well accepted by 86% of patients, as reported in this assessment program;
• No MuGard-related adverse reactions have been identified in clinical practice;
• MuGard represents a valuable therapeutic option in the treatment and prevention of OM in cancer patients undergoing radio/chemotherapy.

"These additional findings out of Europe are very exciting and strengthen our belief in the clinical benefits that MuGard can provide patients undergoing radiation and chemotherapy," said Jeffrey Davis, CEO of Access Pharmaceuticals.  He continued, "This data confirms the competitive advantages of MuGard over the current treatment options on the market and we will use this data to educate patients, clinicians and the medical industry on the superior attributes of our product."

Earlier this year, Access presented MuGard data and clinical experience at the MASCC Conference (Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer). At that conference, Access presented data from a US clinical trial in patients undergoing radiation and/or chemotherapy for treatment of head and neck cancer showing that 42% of patients using MuGard preventatively never exceeded an Oral Mucositis Assessment Scale (OMAS) score of 0.5. This data underscored MuGard's potential for oral mucositis prevention. The overall comparison showed that patients treated with MuGard had significantly lower OMAS scores when compared to the three control groups. The largest benefit was observed when patients used MuGard on the first day they started cancer therapy and continued using MuGard during the entire duration of treatment. Additionally, MuGard lowered erythema (a precursor inflammatory condition to OM) scores in subjects with various oral inflammatory conditions, including patients with xerostomia, cheilitis and stomatitis. The presentation of clinical experience at the ESMO conference is the culmination of all previously announced European clinical programs.