Sale of Advanta BV

AstraZeneca PLC
02 September 2004

AstraZeneca completes sale of interest in Advanta BV

Following its earlier announcement in May, AstraZeneca PLC confirmed today that
together with its joint venture partner, Royal Cosun, it has completed the sale
of Advanta BV to Syngenta.

An exceptional gain of around $220 million on the sale of its 50 per cent
interest will be included in AstraZeneca's third quarter and nine months results
announcement for 2004.


Media Enquiries:
Chris Major [phone]
Steve Brown [phone]
Edel McCaffrey [phone]

Investor Enquiries:
Mina Blair-Robinson [phone]
Jonathan Hunt [phone]


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