PALATINE, IL--(Marketwire - Mar 21, 2012) - Acura Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: [ ACUR ]), a specialty pharmaceutical company innovating [ abuse deterrent drugs ], announced today that the company will present at the 11^th Annual Needham Healthcare Conference at the New York Palace Hotel in New York City on Tuesday, April 3. Bob Jones, Acura Pharmaceutical's Chief Executive Officer, will provide a company overview at 3:20 PM Eastern Time.

During the presentation, material information concerning the Company, its operations, strategies and prospects may be discussed. A live webcast of the presentation will be available through the Investor page of Acura's website: [ www.acurapharm.com ]. An archived version of the presentation will be available for 30 days after the event.

Utilizing its proprietary AVERSION® and IMPEDE™ technologies, Acura develops products intended to address [ medication abuse and misuse ]. AVERSION contains polymers that cause the drug to gel when dissolved; it also contains compounds that irritate the nose. IMPEDE is designed to disrupt the processing of pseudoephedrine from tablets into methamphetamine.

About Acura Pharmaceuticals
Acura Pharmaceuticals is a specialty pharmaceutical company engaged in the research, development and commercialization of product candidates intended to address [ medication abuse and misuse ], utilizing its proprietary AVERSION and IMPEDE technologies. In June 2011, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first product incorporating the AVERSION technology. The Company has a development pipeline of additional AVERSION technology products and its IMPEDE technology for pseudoephedrine hydrochloride products.