Under the terms of the agreement, Abbott will obtain the non-exclusive right to promote CRESTOR alongside AstraZeneca in the United States, excluding Puerto Rico. Specific financial terms were not disclosed.

CRESTOR is a once-daily prescription statin medication indicated for use as an adjunct to diet in the treatment of various lipid disorders including primary hyperlipidaemia, mixed dyslipidaemia and isolated hypertriglyceridaemia, and to slow the progression of atherosclerosis in adult patients as part of a treatment strategy to lower Total-C and LDL-C to target levels. CRESTOR is available in a 5-, 10-, 20-, and 40-mg dose.

"Abbott's dyslipidaemia portfolio includes a number of therapies to help physicians manage a patient's total lipid profile," said Nicole Mowad-Nassar, divisional vice president, Primary Care, Abbott. "With robust clinical data to support its use in managing cholesterol, CRESTOR is another important therapeutic option we can now offer physicians."

This agreement is the second collaboration between AstraZeneca and Abbott. In 2006, the companies announced an agreement to develop a fixed-dose combination of the active ingredients in Abbott’s investigational TriLipix™ (fenofibric acid) and AstraZeneca’s CRESTOR, with plans to submit a New Drug Application (NDA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2009. An NDA for TriLipix for use as monotherapy and in combination with statins has been submitted to the FDA and is currently under review.

"This agreement will allow AstraZeneca to increase share of voice for CRESTOR among physicians whose patients may benefit from this therapy. We see this as a good fit for both companies as this agreement allows us to leverage Abbott's established presence in the dyslipidaemia space," said Mike Tilton, vice president of Primary Care, AstraZeneca.

About CRESTOR® (rosuvastatin calcium)
CRESTOR is indicated as adjunct to diet to reduce elevated total-C, LDL-C, ApoB, nonHDL-C, and triglycerides and to increase HDL-C in adult patients with primary hyperlipidaemia or mixed dyslipidaemia, and to slow the progression of atherosclerosis in adult patients as part of a treatment strategy to lower Total-C and LDL-C to target levels. CRESTOR has not been determined to prevent heart disease, heart attacks, or strokes. For patients with hypercholesterolaemia and mixed dyslipidaemia, the usual recommended starting dose of CRESTOR is 10-mg. The 40-mg dose of CRESTOR is reserved only for those patients who have not achieved their LDL-C goal utilising the 20-mg dose of CRESTOR once daily. When initiating statin therapy or switching from another statin therapy, the appropriate CRESTOR starting dose should first be utilised, and only then titrated according to the patient’s individualised goal of therapy. AstraZeneca licensed worldwide rights to CRESTOR from the Japanese pharmaceutical company Shionogi & Co., Ltd.

For more information about CRESTOR, including full Prescribing Information, visit www.crestor.com.

About AstraZeneca
AstraZeneca is a major international healthcare business engaged in research, development, manufacturing and marketing of prescription pharmaceuticals and supplier for healthcare services. AstraZeneca is one of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies with healthcare sales of US $29.55 billion and is a leader in gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, neuroscience, respiratory, oncology and infection product sales. AstraZeneca is listed in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (Global) as well as the FTSE4Good Index.

For more information visit www.astrazeneca.com.

About Abbott
Abbott is a global, broad-based health care company devoted to the discovery, development, manufacture and marketing of pharmaceuticals and medical products, including nutritionals and devices. The company employs 68,000 people and markets its products in more than 130 countries. Abbott's news releases and other information are available on the company's Web site at www.abbott.com.

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