PALATINE, Ill., June 3, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Acura Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq:ACUR) today announced receipt from the United States Patent and Trademark Office of a Notice of Allowance for a non-provisional patent application titled "Methods and Compositions for Deterring Abuse of Opioid Containing Dosage Forms". A U.S. patent relating to this Notice of Allowance will be granted after the Company pays the required patent issue fees. Today's announcement provides the Company with 21 new allowed patent claims intended to enhance and broaden the patent coverage provided by the 54 issued claims in the Company's first patent relating to deterring abuse of opioids granted in April 2007 (U.S. Patent No. 7,201,920).
