AstraZeneca Bolsters Its Worldwide Biologics Di...

CAMBRIDGE, England and GAITHERSBURG, Maryland, October 29 /PRNewswire/ --

    Cambridge Antibody Technology (CAT) is changing its name to MedImmune to
reflect AstraZeneca's vision for its worldwide biologics business. The new
business unit will unite the resources and expertise from CAT, the
pre-existing MedImmune and other biologics activities within the AstraZeneca
Group, under the "MedImmune" name. With this structure, AstraZeneca has
immediately created one of the world's leading vertically integrated
biotechnology businesses, with more than US$1.3 billion in revenues in 2006,
a pipeline of approximately 100 research projects and more than one dozen
clinical product candidates, and more than 3,000 employees worldwide.



    "The new MedImmune is now the operationally independent and strategically
aligned biologics business unit of AstraZeneca," said David M. Mott,
MedImmune president and chief executive officer. "Bringing together the
biologics expertise of CAT, MedImmune and AstraZeneca allows us to preserve
MedImmune's traditional biotech agility and entrepreneurial spirit while
encouraging strategic collaboration and cross fertilization of ideas under
AstraZeneca's world-class research umbrella."



    As part of the integration, John Stageman, Ph.D., vice president of
AstraZeneca biopharmaceutical strategic planning, assumes the role of interim
site head in Cambridge. Dr. Stageman commented, "AstraZeneca's biologics
capabilities have been enhanced significantly by the acquisitions of CAT and
MedImmune to create a more robust, highly competitive and fully integrated
biotechnology business. The scientific, technical and medical expertise that
this team brings together is world class in discovering, developing,
manufacturing and commercializing biopharmaceutical products."



    AstraZeneca acquired CAT, a biopharmaceutical company committed to
developing human monoclonal antibody therapeutics, in June 2006 with the
intent to have biologics account for 25-percent of its product pipeline by
2010. In 2007, AstraZeneca accelerated achievement of this biologics strategy
through the successful acquisition of MedImmune, a fully integrated
biotechnology company and one of the world's ten largest within the industry,



About the New MedImmune

    MedImmune strives to provide better medicines to patients, new medical
options for physicians and rewarding careers to employees. With approximately
3,000 employees worldwide and headquarters in Maryland, MedImmune is
dedicated to advancing science and medicine to help people live better lives
and is wholly owned by AstraZeneca plc (LSE: AZN.L, NYSE: AZN). For more
information, visit MedImmune's website at http://www.medimmune.com.



Web site: http://www.medimmune.com