Disposal

AstraZeneca PLC
19 January 2001


AstraZeneca Sells Dental Local Anaesthetic Business to
DENTSPLY International Inc.

AstraZeneca announced today its decision to divest its dental range of local
anaesthetics to DENTSPLY International, Inc.  AstraZeneca's portfolio of
dental local anaesthetics includes brand names such as 'Xylocaine', 'Citanest'
and 'Polocaine/Carbocaine'.  AstraZeneca will retain the ownership of these
local anaesthetic brand names but will license the rights to DENTSPLY for
their dental use. DENTSPLY has also acquired full rights to Oraqix -
AstraZeneca's new dental gel for scaling and root planning, which is currently
in Stage III clinical trials.   The agreement is worth $136.5 million plus
future royalty payments on Oraqix.

Ake Stavling, Executive Director of AstraZeneca PLC said, 'Following a
comprehensive strategic review of our product portfolio, AstraZeneca believes
that our dental range of anaesthetics can be better co-ordinated and marketed
by a dedicated dental products company.    DENTSPLY is strategically aligned
to the dental market and is well positioned to maximise the full potential of
our dental local anaesthetics.'

The dental local anaesthetics line accounts for approximately 7% of the sales
of AstraZeneca's total anaesthetic portfolio and about 255 individuals are
employed by the business, with the majority being in manufacturing.  The terms
of the agreement provide for a period of contract manufacture by AstraZeneca
on behalf of DENTSPLY.  Sales and Marketing employees will either be offered
employment by DENTSPLY or elsewhere in the AstraZeneca organisation. 

AstraZeneca is a major international healthcare business engaged in the
research, development, manufacture and marketing of ethical (prescription)
pharmaceuticals and the supply of healthcare services.  It is one of the top
five pharmaceutical companies in the world with 1999 healthcare sales of $13
billion and leading positions in sales of gastrointestinal, oncology,
anaesthesia including pain management, cardiovascular, central nervous system
(CNS) and respiratory products.  The company's Internet site is
www.astrazeneca.com.

DENTSPLY designs, develops, manufactures and markets a broad range of products
for the dental market.  The company believes that it is the world's leading
manufacturer and distributor of dental prosthetics, endodontic instruments and
materials, prophylaxis paste, dental sealants, ultrasonic scalers, and crown
and bridge materials; the leading United States manufacturer and distributor
of dental x-ray equipment, dental handpieces, dental x-ray film holders, film
mounts and bone substitute/grafting materials; and a leading United States
manufacturer or distributor of impression materials, orthodontic appliances,
dental cutting instruments, intraoral cameras and dental operatory software
systems.  The company distributes its dental products in over 100 countries
under some of the most well established brand names in the industry.


Further enquiries to:

Michael Olsson       Tel [phone]        
Ed Seage             Tel [phone]
Jorgen Winroth       Tel [phone]