Crestor

RNS Number:6740H
AstraZeneca PLC
19 February 2003


   ASTRAZENECA'S NEW STATIN, CRESTORTM, RECEIVES APPROVAL IN CANADA - COMPANY
                         INTENDS IMMEDIATE LAUNCH


AstraZeneca announced today it has received approval for CRESTORTM
(rosuvastatin) 10-40 mg from the Therapeutic Products Directorate of Health
Canada for the management of primary hypercholesterolaemia, mixed dyslipidaemia,
and familial hypercholesterolaemia in Canada.  The company will launch Crestor
in Canada immediately.


The global statin market is currently worth US $18 billion annually and is
growing at about 20 per cent a year.  The Canadian statin market is valued at
Canadian  $1 billion a year and is also growing at 20 per cent annually.  There
are estimated to be 10 million people with dyslipidaemia in Canada.


The clinical development programme for CRESTOR now involves over 15,000 patients
and includes a number of head-to-head comparative studies.  In multiple clinical
studies, CRESTOR has been shown to be more effective in lowering LDL-cholesterol
(LDL-C or 'bad' cholesterol) than the currently prescribed statins.  It has
demonstrated reductions of 52 per cent to 63 per cent across the dose range, and
compared to the same doses of atorvastatin, CRESTOR provided a significant 8.4
per cent greater reduction in LDL-C.  CRESTOR 10mg gets significantly more
patients to their European LDL-C goal than atorvastatin 10mg (82 per cent v 51
per cent respectively), simvastatin 20mg (80 per cent v 48 per cent) and
pravastatin 20mg (80 per cent v 16 per cent).  In addition to the dramatic
reductions seen in LDL-C, CRESTOR produces a significant increase in HDL-C ('
good' cholesterol), as well as reducing total cholesterol and triglycerides.


In addition to the approval in Canada today, CRESTOR was approved in the
Netherlands last year and subsequently entered the European Mutual Recognition
Procedure, which will lead to further approvals in 16 other countries in Europe
-- beginning in the first half of 2003.  CRESTOR has also recently been approved
in Singapore and is awaiting approval in the USA, Japan and in other markets.


Coronary heart disease (CHD) is a major cause of morbidity and the leading cause
of death in the Western world.  LDL-C is the most significant contributory risk
factor to atherosclerosis, a common cause of CHD and elevated levels of
cholesterol is one of the most important risk factors in predicting CHD risk in
the population.


AstraZeneca licensed worldwide rights to CRESTOR from Shionogi & Co Ltd, Osaka,
Japan, the company that discovered the drug, in April 1998.  AstraZeneca carried
out a comprehensive clinical development programme leading to submission.


19 February 2003


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- Ends -


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