ORLANDO, Florida, November 17 - JUPITER, which used CRESTOR 20 mg, is the first statin study to
demonstrate a reduction in the risk of cardiovascular (CV) events in women
without established cardiovascular disease (CVD). In this new analysis of
6,801 women from the JUPITER study, rosuvastatin 20 mg reduced CV events by
46% in women without CVD but at increased risk of a cardiovascular event, as
identified by age and elevated hsCRP (p=0.002 vs placebo). This analysis also
showed a 42% reduction in CV events for men without established CVD (p<0.001
vs placebo). These data were presented today at the American Heart
Association Annual Scientific Sessions in Orlando, Florida.

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"Nearly twice as many women die of heart attacks, strokes and other
cardiovascular diseases as from all forms of cancer, including breast
cancer," said Michael Cressman, AstraZeneca's Director of Clinical Research
for CRESTOR. "Women have been an understudied population in statin outcomes
trials and until now there has been limited evidence that women can benefit
from statin therapy."

Also presented at AHA today were two additional analyses of JUPITER data:

- Patients who achieved very low LDL-C (< 50 mg/dL) with rosuvastatin 20
mg achieved a significant 63% reduction in CV events (p<0.0001 vs. placebo)
and a 51% greater reduction in CV events than patients not achieving such a
low LDL-C (p=0.003). Current treatment guidelines recommend aggressive LDL-C
goals for appropriate patients based on the results from outcome trials,
however there has been uncertainty about the possible side effects that could
be associated with achieving very low LDL-C levels. In this new analysis of
4,100 patients, the safety profile of rosuvastatin was similar among patients
who achieved very low LDL-C levels and those who did not.

- Treatment with rosuvastatin 20 mg significantly reduced the risk of CV
events by 32% (p=0.028 vs placebo) in 5,466 patients with Impaired Fasting
Glucose (IFG) at baseline and by 49% in patients with Normal Fasting Glucose
(NFG) at baseline (p<0.001 vs placebo). IFG can be an early sign that a
patient will develop diabetes, and many people with IFG do become diabetic,
which in turn places them at increased cardiovascular risk.

The results from all three JUPITER analyses are consistent with findings
from the primary JUPITER analysis which showed that rosuvastatin 20 mg
significantly reduced cardiovascular events by a dramatic 44 percent compared
to placebo in patients at increased cardiovascular risk as identified by age
and elevated hsCRP. In JUPITER, the safety profile for rosuvastatin 20 mg in
nearly 9,000 patients, including 3,426 women, was consistent with what has
been observed previously in CRESTOR clinical trials. There was a small
increase in physician reported diabetes consistent with data from other large
placebo controlled statin trials.

AstraZeneca filed a regulatory submission including the JUPITER data in
the first half of 2009.

ABOUT JUPITER:

JUPITER was a long-term, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled,
large-scale study of 17,802 patients designed to determine if rosuvastatin 20
mg decreased the risk of heart attack, stroke and other cardiovascular events
in patients with low to normal LDL-C but at increased cardiovascular risk as
identified by age and elevated high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP).
The majority of patients had at least one other risk factor including
hypertension, low HDL-C, family history of premature coronary heart disease
(CHD) or smoking. hsCRP is a recognised marker of inflammation which is
associated with an increased risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular events.

JUPITER is a part of AstraZeneca's extensive GALAXY clinical trials
program, designed to address important unanswered questions in statin
research. Currently, more than 65,000 patients have been recruited from 55
countries worldwide to participate in the GALAXY Program.

ABOUT CRESTOR (ROSUVASTATIN CALCIUM):

Studies have previously shown that CRESTOR significantly lowered LDL-C,
had a significant effect on raising HDL-C and slowed the progression of
atherosclerosis, an underlying cause of cardiovascular disease. CRESTOR has
now received regulatory approval in over 95 countries. More than 17 million
patients have been prescribed CRESTOR worldwide. Data from clinical trials
and real world use shows that the safety profile for CRESTOR is in line with
other marketed statins.

ABOUT ASTRAZENECA

AstraZeneca is a major international healthcare business engaged in the
research, development, manufacturing and marketing of meaningful prescription
medicines and supplier for healthcare services. AstraZeneca is one of the
world's leading pharmaceutical companies with healthcare sales of US$ 31.6
billion and is a leader in gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, neuroscience,
respiratory, oncology and infectious disease medicines. For more information
about AstraZeneca, please visit: www.astrazeneca.com. 

    Press Contact:

    Ben Strutt
    Global PR Director
    AstraZeneca
    Tel: +44(0)1625-230076
    Mob: +44(0)7919-565990
    ben.strutt@astrazeneca.com

Ben Strutt, Global PR Director of AstraZeneca, +44(0)1625-230076, Mob: +44(0)7919-565990, ben.strutt at astrazeneca.com