Recentin

AstraZeneca PLC
27 February 2008

    AstraZeneca Provides Update On RECENTIN(TM) Clinical Development Programme

  HORIZON Colorectal Cancer Programme Continues Into Phase III; BR24 Non-Small
                    Cell Lung Cancer Trial Will Not Progress



AstraZeneca today announced that its HORIZON III Phase II/III head-to-head study
of RECENTIN(TM) (cediranib, AZD2171) with chemotherapy versus bevacizumab 
(Avastin(TM)) with chemotherapy in patients with first line metastatic
colorectal cancer (CRC) will be progressing directly into Phase III at 20mg. 
Patients will also continue to be recruited at 20mg into the first line CRC
HORIZON II study of RECENTIN with chemotherapy versus chemotherapy alone.



The HORIZON Independent Data Monitoring Committee (IDMC) conducted a planned end
of Phase II (EOP II) review of efficacy and tolerability data from HORIZON I,
HORIZON II and HORIZON III. Data from HORIZON I, in second line colorectal
cancer, would not by itself have contributed to a positive EOP II decision.
However, when combined with a review of data from HORIZON II and III by the
IDMC, the IDMC confirmed the HORIZON programme in 1st line CRC could continue
and HORIZON II and III had met pre-defined EOP II criteria.



AstraZeneca today also announced that the National Cancer Institute of Canada
Clinical Trials Group (NCIC-CTG) has informed AstraZeneca that the BR24 Phase II
/III study of RECENTIN at 30mg in first line non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)
will not continue into Phase III following the planned end of Phase II efficacy
and tolerability analysis by the study's Data Safety Monitoring Committee.
Although evidence of clinical activity was seen, there appeared to be an
imbalance in toxicity and therefore the study was considered not to have met the
pre-defined criteria for automatic continuation into Phase III.



AstraZeneca is working in close collaboration with the NCIC-CTG to understand
the BR24 data further.



In addition to colorectal and non-small cell lung cancer, the RECENTIN
development programme includes trials in recurrent glioblastoma and a number of
signal search studies in other tumours.



John Patterson, AstraZeneca's Executive Director for Development, said: 'Given
there is such a high unmet patient need for more effective treatments in cancer,
we are pleased that the HORIZON colorectal cancer programme has met its
pre-defined criteria to continue recruitment into Phase III. Due to the Phase II
/III trial design, HORIZON III is able to move directly into Phase III utilising
all the Phase II data and this saves valuable time in assessing the potential
benefit of RECENTIN in the first line metastatic colorectal cancer setting.



'AstraZeneca supports the NCIC-CTG's BR24 recommendation and is working with
them to understand the data more fully in NSCLC. As evidence of clinical
activity was seen in BR24, AstraZenenca remains committed to investigating the
potential of RECENTIN in lung cancer and reducing the incidence of serious
adverse events.'



RECENTIN(TM) is a trademark of the AstraZeneca group of companies.



27th February 2008



Notes To Editors:



About the National Cancer Institute of Canada Clinical Trials Group

The National Cancer Institute of Canada Clinical Trials Group (NCIC-CTG), funded
by the Canadian Cancer Society and based at Queen's University in Kingston,
Ontario, Canada, develops, conducts and analyses national and international
trials of cancer therapy, including trials for new cancer drugs, cancer
prevention and supportive care to improve quality of life for people with
cancer. Since its inception in 1971, the NCIC-CTG has enrolled more than 40,000
patients from Canada and around the world in over 300 clinical trials.



BR24 Background

NSCLC accounts for approximately 80 percent of all cases of lung cancer. Lung
cancer is the most common cancer in the world with 1.3 million new cases
diagnosed every year and nearly 1.2 million people dying as a result of the
disease annually.



BR24 is a collaboration between AstraZeneca and the NCIC-CTG, based at Queen's
University in Kingston, Ontario. The study is a randomised, double-blind,
placebo-controlled Phase II/III investigation of RECENTIN plus paclitaxel and
carboplatin versus the chemotherapy arm alone. In the Phase II part of the
study, patients were recruited from countries including: Argentina, Australia,
Brazil, Canada, Romania and Singapore.



RECENTIN and Colorectal Cancer

Colorectal cancer is the third most commonly reported cancer worldwide, with
around 945,000 new cases and 492,000 deaths annually.



The Horizon Study Programme is evaluating RECENTIN in patients with first line
advanced colorectal cancer:


Study

                 Phase      Design                                              Population
Horizon III      II/III     Double blind, randomised trial of cediranib in      Patients with first line
                            combination with FOLFOX compared to bevacizumab in  metastatic colorectal
                            combination with FOLFOX                             cancer
Horizon II       III        Double blind, randomised trial of cediranib plus    Patients with first line
                            standard chemotherapy compared to standard          metastatic colorectal
                            chemotherapy alone                                  cancer
Horizon I        II         Double blind, randomised trial of cediranib in      Patients with second line
                            combination with FOLFOX compared to bevacizumab in  metastatic colorectal
                            combination with FOLFOX                             cancer





RECENTIN: a potent and selective VEGF signalling inhibitor



RECENTIN is a once-daily, orally available, highly potent and selective VEGF
signalling inhibitor that inhibits all three VEGF receptors.



VEGF signalling is a key driver of angiogenesis - the formation of new blood
vessels that tumours need to grow and spread.  RECENTIN inhibits this signal by
binding to the intracellular domain of all three VEGF receptors, in particular
VEGFR-2, the predominant receptor through which VEGF exerts its effects on
angiogenesis, preventing the growth of new blood vessels. This effectively '
starves' the tumour of the oxygen and nutrients it needs to grow.



Phase I data indicate that RECENTIN is generally well tolerated, with the most
common adverse events being diarrhoea, fatigue, hoarseness, nausea, vomiting,
headache, hypertension and hand foot syndrome.



About AstraZeneca

AstraZeneca is a major international healthcare business engaged in research,
development, manufacturing and marketing of prescription pharmaceuticals and
supplier for healthcare services. AstraZeneca is one of the world's leading
pharmaceutical companies with healthcare sales of US $29.55 billion and is a
leader in gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, neuroscience, respiratory, oncology
and infection product sales. AstraZeneca is listed in the Dow Jones
Sustainability Index (Global) as well as the FTSE4Good Index.



For further information:



Media Enquiries:

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Chris Sampson, [phone]  (24 hours)



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Jonathan Hunt,  [phone]

Ed Seage,  [phone]

Karl Hard,  [phone]

Jorgen Winroth,  [phone]

Mina Blair,  [phone]

Peter Vozzo, (MedImmune)  [phone]



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