Directorate Change

AstraZeneca PLC
17 December 2004




ASTRAZENECA BOARD ANNOUNCEMENT



AstraZeneca PLC today confirms the appointment of Louis Schweitzer as
non-executive Chairman with effect from 1 January 2005.  Percy Barnevik will
retire from the Board as Chairman and a Director on 31 December 2004.  The
appointment of Louis Schweitzer as Chairman was anticipated in the announcement
of his appointment as a non-executive Director on 11 March 2004.



The Company also announces the appointment to the Board of Dr John Patterson as
an Executive Director with effect from 1 January 2005 with responsibility for
Development. Martin Nicklasson will become Executive Vice-President, Product
Strategy and Licensing and President of AstraZeneca AB.



                                    - ends -



11.01 GMT Friday 17th December



Media Enquiries:

Edel McCaffrey, Tel: [phone]

Steve Brown, Tel: [phone]



Investor Enquiries:

Mina Blair, Tel: [phone]

Jonathan Hunt, Tel:  [phone]













BIOGRAPHICAL DETAILS:



LOUIS SCHWEITZER

AstraZeneca PLC announced the appointment of Louis Schweitzer as a non-executive
Director of the company on March 11 2004.  He was elected Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer of Renault in May 1992. Since taking office, Mr. Schweitzer
has opened the company to private shareholders in 1994 and led the privatization
of Renault in 1996. On March 27, 1999, Renault and Nissan agreed to join forces
to achieve profitable growth for both companies forming a new entity ranking
fifth in the world automotive industry. Since then, Renault has taken a majority
stake in Dacia and Samsung in 2000 and became first stakeholder of AB Volvo in
2001, which is now running Renault's industrial vehicles activity. A new step of
the alliance with Nissan was announced late 2001, including cross shareholding,
increase of Renault's stake in Nissan and new joint management structure. Louis
Schweitzer is President of the Management Board of Renault-Nissan BV since March
2002.



Louis Schweitzer joined Renault in May 1986. He became Chief Financial Officer
and Executive Vice-President in 1988, President and Chief Operating Officer in
December 1990, Chairman of the Renault-Nissan BV Board in March 2002.



Formerly, he was a Civil Servant at the Budget Department then served for five
years as chief of the staff of Laurent Fabius, who was Minister of Budget in
1981, Minister for Industry and Research in 1983, and Prime Minister from 1984
to 1986.



Mr. Schweitzer got a Master's degree in Law and studied at the 'Institut
d'Etudes Politiques de Paris'. He carried on as a student at the 'Ecole
Nationale d'Administration' from which he graduated in 1970 as 'Inspecteur des
finances'.



Mr. Schweitzer serves on the board of AB Volvo, BNP-Paribas, Electricite de
France, and Philips, VEOLIA Environnement, as well as on the board of a number
of not-for-profit institutions.



Dr. JOHN PATTERSON

John Patterson qualified in Medicine in 1971 and obtained a Membership (now
Fellowship) of the Royal College of Physicians in 1974. His career with Zeneca
Pharmaceuticals (the company which merged with Astra in 1999 to form
AstraZeneca) spanned 20 years, starting in 1975 as Medical Adviser in the
Clinical Research Department. Subsequent appointments included: Manager of
Clinical Research; Medical Director, ICI Germany; Vice President of Clinical
Research and Medical Affairs and, subsequently, Medical Director, ICI
Pharmaceuticals.



Before moving to AstraZeneca's Senior Executive Team, Dr. Patterson held the
position of Territorial Business Director, responsible for all the businesses of
Zeneca Pharmaceuticals outside the USA, responsible for directing the business
operations of the national entities in 130 countries.



As Executive Vice President of Product Strategy & Licensing, Dr. Patterson was
responsible for Global Marketing for all brands, including the management of the
AstraZeneca product portfolio and licensing.



Dr. Patterson has an external responsibility as Director of the British Pharma
Group. He is a former President of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical
Industry, a former Non-Executive Director of Amersham PLC and a former member of
the supervisory board of the UK Medical Control Agency.




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