Nexium

AstraZeneca PLC 22 November 2005 AstraZeneca Commences Patent Infringement Litigation Against Ranbaxy Laboratories AstraZeneca announced today that it has filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey against Ranbaxy Laboratories for willful infringement of AstraZeneca's patents protecting NEXIUM(R) (esomeprazole magnesium). The lawsuit is in response to an Abbreviated New Drug Application filed by Ranbaxy with the US Food and Drug Administration regarding Ranbaxy's intent to market a generic version of AstraZeneca's NEXIUM in the US prior to the expiration of six AstraZeneca Patents: 5,714,504; 5,877,192; 6,369,085; 6,428,810, 6,875,872 and 5,948,789. The expiration dates for these patents range from 2014 through 2019. AstraZeneca has full confidence in and will continue vigorously to defend and enforce its intellectual property rights protecting NEXIUM. 22 November 2005 Media Enquiries: Edel McCaffrey, Tel: +44 (0) 207 304 5034 Steve Brown, Tel: +44 (0) 207 304 5033 Investor Enquiries: Mina Blair, Tel: +44 (0) 207 304 5084 Jonathan Hunt, Tel: +44 (0) 207 304 5087 Ed Seage, Tel: +1 302 886 4065 Jorgen Winroth, Tel + 1 212 579 0506 -Ends- This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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