Arimidex Data

ASTRAZENECA PLC
15 September 1999


'ARIMIDEX' CHALLENGES TAMOXIFEN AS 'GOLD STANDARD' 
TREATMENT IN WOMEN WITH ADVANCED POST-MENOPAUSAL BREAST CANCER

For the last 25 years the 'gold standard' treatment for women with breast cancer
has been tamoxifen.  New data presented today at the 10th European Cancer
Conference in Vienna, Austria, challenges this dominant position.  'Arimidex', a
selective non-steroidal aromatase inhibitor, has been shown to be at least as
effective and well-tolerated as tamoxifen and, in one of the two international
studies reported, the data indicate that 'Arimidex' is more effective.

These data will be submitted to regulatory authorities in the near future with
the aim of allowing doctors to prescribe 'Arimidex' for first-line use in
post-menopausal women with advanced disease.  ('Arimidex' is currently
available in most countries for the treatment of advanced breast cancer in
post-menopausal women whose disease has progressed following treatment with
tamoxifen or other anti-oestrogens).

Mr. Chris Brinsmead, Marketing Vice-President for Oncology at AstraZeneca,
commented:  'We are very encouraged by these data which not only indicate an
advantage for 'Arimidex' over tamoxifen in the advanced post-menopausal woman
with breast cancer in terms of efficacy but there is also an indication that the
safety profile is improved.  This is good news for the many women who suffer
from this devastating disease as it offers them and their clinicians the
prospect of an increased choice of therapies available to them.'

Since 1985 over 700,000 new cases of breast cancer have been diagnosed each year
world-wide, and incidence rates are expected to increase to close to 1 million
new cases per year by the year 2000.  In the UK alone it is now estimated that
one in 12 women will be at risk from breast cancer in their lifetime.

First launched in 1995 (in the UK) 'Arimidex' is now available in most European
countries, North America, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.  Worldwide
annual sales were US$121 million in 1998, up 47 per cent on the previous year.

AstraZeneca has a long and successful track record in developing and marketing
new medicines for the treatment of a variety of cancers.  These comprise
'Nolvadex', considered by many doctors to be the gold standard hormonal
treatment for breast cancer, 'Zoladex', an LHRH analogue, for the treatment of
prostate cancer and advanced breast cancer in pre and perimenopausal women,
'Casodex', an anti-androgen for the treatment of prostate cancer and 'Tomudex',
a thymidylate synthase inhibitor for the palliative treatment of advanced
colorectal cancer.  AstraZeneca will continue to strive for research excellence
and innovation as it discovers the new cancer treatments of the future.  Last
year, it committed approximately US$260 million of its R&D expenditure to the
research and development of new treatments for cancer.

Further enquiries:

Press:
Ms Wendy Russell, [phone], mobile [phone]
Steve Brown [phone]
Mikael Widell [phone], 070-311 99 60
Staffan Ternby, [phone]

Investors Relations:
Michael Olsson, tel [phone]
Elizabeth Sutton, tel [phone]
Jorgen Winroth, tel [phone]
Ed Seage, tel [phone]