Dallas-based Access Pharmaceuticals to acquire MacroChem Corp.

MacroChem's portfolio includes Pexiganan and EcoNail.

DALLAS — Access Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and MacroChem Corporation announced today that they had signed a definitive merger agreement providing for Access to acquire MacroChem through the issuance of 2.5 million shares of Access Pharmaceuticals' common stock. The acquisition is expected to close in Q3 2008.

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What do they mean by "monetize those assets?"

MacroChem's product portfolio includes two clinical stage oncology products, 4-thio Ara-C, which is a next generation nucleoside analogue licensed from Southern Research Institute and sodium phenylbutyrate, which is licensed from the NIH and is currently partnered with Access Pharmaceuticals. MacroChem's portfolio of late stage clinical drug candidates includes Pexiganan, a novel topical anti-infective for the treatment of diabetic foot infection that has already completed two Phase 3 clinical trials; EcoNail, a novel topical treatment for onychomycosis that is currently in a Phase 2 clinical trial. Macrochem also has two proprietary dermatology drug platforms, SEPA(R) and MacroDerm.

"The acquisition of MacroChem brings multiple late-stage clinical drug candidates into the Access pipeline, some of which are further along than Access' current assets," stated Jeffrey B. Davis, Access' President and CEO. "We are currently active in partnering and out-licensing discussions, and MacroChem's dermatology assets will be added to that partnering effort. The oncology assets are highly synergistic with the oncology development efforts ongoing at Access, and we look forward to the opportunity to move them along and monetize those assets through additional partnering activities."

"With the precarious state of the financial markets adding further challenges for microcap biopharmaceutical companies, we believe the strategic combination with Access is a very positive step forward for the continued development of MacroChem's product candidates," stated Robert J. DeLuccia, Chairman of MacroChem Corporation. "We are pleased to work with Access to assure an orderly transition and believe that this is the best strategy currently available to maximize value for our shareholders."

Source: Access Pharmaceuticals