REDWOOD CITY, Calif.,
Sept. 28, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- AcelRx
Pharmaceuticals, Inc., (NASDAQ: ACRX) ("AcelRx"), a specialty
pharmaceutical company focused on the development and
commercialization of innovative therapies for the treatment of
acute and breakthrough pain, announced that Mark G. Edwards has joined its Board of
Directors. Mr. Edwards will also serve as the chairman of the
Audit Committee. Mr. Edwards founded Deloitte Recap LLC
(formerly, Recombinant Capital, Inc. "Recap"), a pharmaceutical and
biotechnology consulting company, in 1988, and served as its
Managing Director until the end of 2010. Recap has provided
analysis, advice and negotiation support concerning the structure
and valuation of biopharmaceutical alliances to several hundred
companies over the past two decades. From 1999 until
December 2000, Mr. Edwards was a
General Partner of International Biomedicine Management Partners.
He also served as a Director of Allos Therapeutics, Inc. from 1999
until 2007. Mr. Edwards has a Bachelor's Degree in Economics
and an MBA, both from Stanford
University.
"Mark brings a wealth of both financial and pharmaceutical
industry partnering transaction experience to AcelRx," noted
Richard King, AcelRx President and
Chief Executive Officer. "We are pleased to have Mark join the
Board of Directors and to chair our Audit Committee."
"I am excited to join the AcelRx Board," stated Mr. Edwards.
"AcelRx has developed an impressive pipeline of
market-focused pain product candidates. I am convinced of the
tremendous opportunity afforded by the AcelRx sufentanil NanoTab
technology in treating both post-operative pain and other acute and
breakthrough pain conditions."
About AcelRx Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Based in Redwood City, CA,
AcelRx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ACRX) 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, the
ARX-01 Sufentanil NanoTab PCA System, which is in preparation for
Phase 3 clinical development, 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 inherent potential for programming and
delivery errors associated with the complexity of infusion pumps.
AcelRx has two additional product candidates which have completed
Phase 2 clinical development: ARX-02 for the treatment of cancer
breakthrough pain, and ARX-03 for providing mild sedation, anxiety
reduction and pain relief for patients undergoing painful
procedures in a physician's office. A fourth product
candidate, ARX-04, is a sufentanil product for the treatment of
moderate-to-severe acute pain that is expected to enter Phase 2
clinical development in the second half of 2011 under a grant from
the US Army Medical Research and Material Command.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements,
including, but not limited to, statements related to AcelRx
Pharmaceuticals' product pipeline, opportunity afforded by NanoTab
technology, market for its products, and the clinical trials and
product candidate development. These forward-looking
statements are based on the company's current expectations and
inherently involve significant risks and uncertainties.
AcelRx Pharmaceuticals' 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 Pharmaceutical's product
development activities and clinical trials; its ability to obtain
and maintain regulatory approval of its product candidates; its
plans to research, develop and commercialize its product
candidates; the market potential for its product candidates;
and other risks detailed in the "Risk Factors" and elsewhere
in AcelRx Pharmaceuticals' Securities and Exchange
Commission filings and reports, including its Annual Report on Form
10-K for the year ended December 31,
2010 and its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter
ended June 30, 2011. AcelRx
Pharmaceuticals 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.
SOURCE AcelRx Pharmaceuticals, Inc.