The objective for the seminar is to promote an understanding of the broad financial implications that are possible as a result of various termination scenarios provided for in the agreements, with a principal focus on the period beginning in 2008.

The slides to be used in the presentation are now available on the Company’s website, www.astrazeneca.com.

Much of the content in the slides has been excerpted from the AstraZeneca 2005 Annual Report and Form 20-F (pages 52-54, page 97, and pages 116-118).

Commenting on the seminar content, AstraZeneca Chief Financial Officer Jon Symonds said, “While the subject matter can appear complex, the conclusions are relatively straightforward. Based on our current estimates, if Merck exercises the First Option in 2008, the net payment to Merck is unlikely to exceed the minimum value of $3.3 billion. Secondly, the estimated impact on our Profit and Loss account from 2008 onwards will be neutral to slightly positive to earnings on a cash basis (that is excluding amortization of capitalized intangibles associated with the payment to Merck), and slightly negative on an accounting basis (including amortization of the intangible assets). The payment will be made from existing cash resources, with no effect on our shareholder distribution policy.


Audio webcast

There will be an audio webcast with sychronised slides. During the Q&A session you will be able to email questions to Jon Symonds.

Printable .pdf versions (b/w) of the slides are now available to download on the AstraZeneca Investors website (www.astrazeneca.com/node/investor.aspx).

A replay of the webcast will be available for viewing on the AstraZeneca Investors website from 15:30GMT on Tuesday 14 March. The indexed version will be available from 09:00GMT on Wednesday 15 March until 17:00GMT on Tuesday 28 March 2006.

-Ends-
14 March 2006

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