REDWOOD CITY, Calif., March 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- AcelRx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ACRX, ("AcelRx" or the "Company"), a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on innovative therapies for use in medically supervised settings, today announced the appointment of John Saia as General Counsel, effective April 16, 2018. Mr. Saia joins AcelRx from McKesson Corporation, a global leader in healthcare supply chain management solutions, retail pharmacy, community oncology and specialty care, and healthcare information technology.

"John brings substantial experience as a healthcare executive with expertise in corporate development, corporate governance, regulatory compliance, and securities law to the leadership team," said Vince Angotti, AcelRx's Chief Executive Officer.  "John's appointment comes at an important time for AcelRx, as we prepare to resubmit our DSUVIA NDA and begin preparation for an expected FDA advisory committee meeting, with an anticipated PDUFA date later this year.  John's extensive experience and leadership will be highly valued."

Mr. Saia has over a decade of healthcare industry experience and joins AcelRx from McKesson Corporation, where he most recently served as its Corporate Secretary and Associate General Counsel.  At McKesson, he served in various roles with increasing responsibilities and leadership, which included leading and supporting nearly 100 acquisitions over this time period.  Prior to McKesson, Mr. Saia was a senior attorney at DLA Piper, advising clients on capital markets transactions, public reporting and M&A.  Earlier in his career, Mr. Saia was an attorney and special counsel at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

"AcelRx has an experienced leadership team that has made significant strides towards getting DSUVIA approved by the FDA," said Mr. Saia. "I look forward to working alongside the talented team at AcelRx to deliver medicine that has the potential to change the current standard of care in medically supervised settings."

Mr. Saia received his law degree from The George Washington University Law School and bachelor's degree from Santa Clara University.

About AcelRx Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

AcelRx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of innovative therapies for use in medically supervised settings. AcelRx's proprietary, non-invasive sublingual formulation technology delivers sufentanil with consistent pharmacokinetic profiles. The Company has two product candidates including DSUVIA^™ (sufentanil sublingual tablet, 30 mcg), known as DZUVEO outside the United States, with a proposed indication for the treatment of moderate-to-severe acute pain in medically supervised settings, and Zalviso^® (sufentanil sublingual tablet system, SST system, 15 mcg) being developed as an innovatively designed patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) system for reduction of moderate-to-severe acute pain in medically supervised settings.

For additional information about AcelRx's clinical programs, please visit www.acelrx.com.

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SOURCE AcelRx Pharmaceuticals, Inc.