RNS Number:4732F
AstraZeneca PLC
22 November 2004

ASTRAZENECA AND CAMBRIDGE ANTIBODY TECHNOLOGY ANNOUNCE MAJOR STRATEGIC ALLIANCE
TO DISCOVER AND DEVELOP HUMAN ANTIBODY THERAPEUTICS IN INFLAMMATORY DISORDERS



AstraZeneca makes #75 million upfront equity investment.

Complements earlier alliance with Abgenix, Inc. in oncology.



AstraZeneca today announced a five-year research and development alliance with
Cambridge Antibody Technology (CAT) in monoclonal antibody research, principally
in inflammatory disorders, including respiratory diseases.  AstraZeneca will pay
#75 million in cash for an issue of 10,217,983 new ordinary shares in CAT,
representing a 19.9 per cent shareholding.  The equity subscription requires the
approval of CAT shareholders.



The alliance offers an excellent balance and fit between CAT's established
expertise and capabilities in monoclonal antibody generation and optimisation,
together with their process technology and early clinical skills, with
AstraZeneca's drug development capabilities and global market strength and
representation.



*         Both AstraZeneca and CAT will contribute targets to the alliance,
which will be co-funded and co-managed by the partners.   A minimum of 25
programmes in discovery will be initiated during the five-year duration of the
Discovery phase.



*         Following the completion of the discovery phase, the parties may
each elect to continue funding programmes into development.  If both parties so
elect, the programme will be jointly funded until Clinical Proof of Concept (end
of Phase IIb trials), unless either party opts-out earlier.  In addition, CAT
has the option to continue to fund jointly the development of one in every five
products that reach Clinical Proof of Concept up to product launch; in this case
CAT would have an option to co-promote such products in the US.



*         AstraZeneca will receive the rights to opt into, and develop
jointly, CAT discovery programmes existing at the commencement of this alliance
and also to opt into certain future CAT discovery programmes that CAT may
independently initiate. CAT has limited rights to co-promote in the US drugs
resulting from these programmes.



*         CAT will be principally responsible for antibody discovery,
manufacturing process development and the supply of material for exploratory
clinical trials. AstraZeneca will be principally responsible for translational
biology, clinical development programmes, regulatory filings and
commercialisation.  Joint teams will be established to oversee the full
discovery and development process.



This is the second such research alliance in monoclonal antibodies agreed by
AstraZeneca in just over a year. Last October, the company announced a major
agreement with Abgenix, Inc. for monoclonal antibody research in oncology.



AstraZeneca is a major international healthcare business engaged in the
research, development, manufacture and marketing of prescription pharmaceuticals
and the supply of healthcare services. It is one of the world's leading
pharmaceutical companies with healthcare sales of over $18.8 billion and leading
positions in sales of gastrointestinal, oncology, cardiovascular, neuroscience
and respiratory products. AstraZeneca is listed in the Dow Jones Sustainability
Index (Global) as well as the FTSE4Good Index.



CAT is a biopharmaceutical company using its proprietary technologies and
capabilities in human monoclonal antibodies for drug discovery and drug
development. Based near Cambridge, England, CAT currently employs around 270
people.  CAT is a leader in the discovery and development of human therapeutic
antibodies and has an advanced proprietary platform technology for rapidly
isolating human monoclonal antibodies using phage display and ribosome display
systems. CAT has extensive phage antibody libraries, currently incorporating
more than 100 billion distinct antibodies. These libraries form the basis for
the company's strategy to develop a portfolio of antibody-based drugs.



Abgenix Alliance

The alliance between AstraZeneca and Abgenix, Inc., of Freemont, California, was
announced on October 16, 2003. This is aimed at discovering fully humanised
monoclonal antibodies for the treatment of cancer. Abgenix is providing antibody
expertise and will take projects into clinical trials. AstraZeneca is providing
cancer expertise to guide the choice of targets, the properties required out of
the candidate drugs and clinical development. Under the terms of the deal,
AstraZeneca made a $100 million upfront equity investment, while Abgenix will
also receive milestone, royalty and collaboration payments. Further details can
be found in the Press release announcing the alliance on (www.astrazeneca.com).



                                     -Ends-



November 22, 2004


Media Enquiries:
Edel McCaffrey, Tel: +44 (0) 207 304 5034
Steve Brown, Tel: +44 (0) 207 304 5033



Investor Enquiries:
Mina Blair, Tel: +44 (0) 207 304 5084
Jonathan Hunt, Tel:  +44 (0) 207 304 5087




                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END

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