EXHIBIT 99.61


Contact:  Linda B. Preucil                        (AMEX) PHA
          Director of Business Relations          WWW.PACIFICPHARM.COM
          908/497-0160
          LBPreucil@aol.com
          -----------------

===============================================================================
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


               PACIFIC PHARMACEUTICALS, INC. APPEALS DELISTING DECISION
                            BY THE AMERICAN STOCK EXCHANGE


San Diego, CA. June 25, 1998.  Pacific Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (AMEX:PHA) 
announced that  it will exercise its right to appeal to the Board of 
Governors of the American Stock Exchange (AMEX) the decision yesterday to 
remove the Company's Common Stock from the AMEX.  AMEX believes that the 
Company no longer fully satisfies all of the financial guidelines of the AMEX 
for continued listing.  There can be no assurance that the appeal by Pacific 
Pharmaceuticals will be successful, and that the listing will be continued. 

The Company is taking measures to ensure that in the event of an unsuccessful 
appeal, an orderly transition will occur and that its Common Stock will 
commence trading on the Electronic Bulletin Board.  

Pacific has three cancer therapies, two of which are in the clinical phase of 
development under US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Investigational New 
Drug Applications (INDs).  These therapies include O6 Benzyl Guanine (BG), a 
chemosensitizer that may overcome the resistance to a commonly used group of 
chemotherapeutic agents, a boronated porphyrin (BOPP) for use in photodynamic 
therapy (PDT), and a cancer immunotherapy for the treatment of metastatic 
cancer.  Both BG and BOPP are in human studies.

Pacific's collaborators believe that BG is capable of destroying the 
resistance of cancer cells to a class of chemotherapeutic agents known as O6 
alkylating agents, currently used to treat various cancers such as brain, 
melanoma and lymphoma.  "The potential now exists to treat cancers previously 
thought to be unresponsive to this class of cancer drugs," commented Dr. 
Henry S. Friedman, Professor of Pediatrics and Associate Professor of Surgery 
and Medicine at the Duke University Medical Center.  "The combination of 
enhanced efficacy and reduced cancer drug resistance in patients treated with 
O6 Benzyl Guanine may provide a considerable improvement in the treatment of 
certain types of cancers."  Studies led by Pugh Scholar Dr. Anthony E. Pegg 
and his team have shown a correlation between low levels of the repair 
protein AGT in tumors and enhanced responsiveness to treatment.  Multiple 
Phase I human clinical trials conducted at the University of





                                                                 EXHIBIT 99.61


Chicago, Duke University Medical Center and Case Western University are 
nearing completion in different cancer types, including brain, color and 
renal carcinoma.

BOPP is currently in a Phase I safety study in brain cancer patients under 
the direction of Professor Andrew Kaye, a world renowned neurosurgeon and 
authority on the use of photodynamic therapy for the adjunctive treatment of 
brain tumors. This study is being conducted under a FDA IND at the Royal 
Melbourne Hospital, Australia.  To date, five patients have entered the study 
and received BOPP. Photodynamic therapy is a platform technology suitable for 
a variety of disorders including cancer, and various other disorders 
including cardiovascular, gynecologic, and gastrointestinal disorders.  
Discussions are ongoing with various potential corporate partners.

The cancer immunotherapy technology is undergoing preparation for the 
clinical phase of development.  In preclinical studies conducted to date, a 
prolonged immune response has been demonstrated which results in the 
clearance of metastatic tumor.  In addition, rechallenge of surviving animals 
with tumor results in tumor rejection in 100% of the tested survivors.  A 
pre-IND meeting held with the FDA resulted in an accelerated timetable to 
enter clinical trials.

THIS NEWS RELEASE CONTAINS FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS.  THE ACTUAL RESULTS 
COULD VARY FROM THOSE EXPECTED DUE TO A VARIETY OF RISKS SET FORTH FROM TIME 
TO TIME IN THE COMPANY'S FILINGS WITH THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION, 
INCLUDING THE COMPANY'S REGISTRATION STATEMENT ON FORM S-3, AS DECLARED 
EFFECTIVE ON SEPTEMBER 4, 1997, AND THE COMPANY'S FORM 10-K WHICH WILL BE 
FILED FOR THE YEAR ENDED MARCH 31, 1998.  THE COMPANY'S PRODUCTS, INCLUDING 
BG, MUST UNDERGO AN EXTENSIVE REGULATORY APPROVAL PROCESS CONDUCTED BY THE 
FDA AND APPLICABLE AGENCIES IN OTHER COUNTRIES, AND THERE CAN BE NO ASSURANCE 
THAT REGULATORY APPROVAL WILL BE OBTAINED FOR BG OR ANY COMPANY PRODUCT.  THE 
COMPANY UNDERTAKES NO OBLIGATION TO PUBLICLY RELEASE THE RESULTS OF ANY OF 
THESE FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS WHICH MAY BE MADE TO REFLECT EVENTS OR 
CIRCUMSTANCES AFTER THE DATE HEREOF OR TO REFLECT THE OCCURRENCE OF 
UNANTICIPATED EVENTS.