Stmnt re FTC Approval

AstraZeneca PLC
2 November 2000


FTC CLEARS SPIN-OFFS AND COMBINATION OF ASTRAZENECA'S AGROCHEMICALS BUSINESS
AND NOVARTIS' AGRIBUSINESS

AstraZeneca and Novartis AG today announced that the United States Federal
Trade Commission (FTC) has approved a consent decree in connection with the
spin-offs of AstraZeneca's agrochemicals business and Novartis' Agribusiness
and the combination of these businesses to create Syngenta AG.

The approval follows the agreement of AstraZeneca to divest globally its
acetochlor herbicide products to Dow Agrosciences LLC and the agreement of
Novartis to divest its fungicide Flint to Bayer.

The transaction will now complete as planned on 13 November, 2000.   



Zeneca Agrochemicals is the crop protection and plant science business of
AstraZeneca.  It is the fourth largest supplier to this international market,
with sales in 1999 of USD 2.7 billion in more than 130 countries. AstraZeneca
(Registered Office, London) is a leading international pharmaceuticals and
bioscience group with 1999 pro forma sales of USD 18.5 billion.

Novartis (NYSE: NVS) is a world leader in healthcare with core businesses in
pharmaceuticals, consumer health, generics, eye-care, and animal health.  In
1999, the Group (including Agribusiness) achieved sales of CHF 32.5 billion
(USD 21.6 billion) and invested more than CHF 4.2 billion (USD 2.8 billion) in
R&D. Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Novartis employs about 82,500 people
and operates in over 140 countries around the world.


For further information:

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