Astra to build new production facility

ASTRA TO BUILD NEW PRODUCTION FACILITY IN SÖDERTÄLJE Astra's board of directors has approved plans to build a new factory for manufacturing of pharmaceutical substances at the Gärtuna site in Södertälje, where Astra already has several production facilities. The investment is worth approximately SEK 1.4 bn. Construction of the new factory is scheduled to begin in spring 1999 and will be finished in 2001. Production at the new plant will entail about 100 new jobs in all. In addition, around 50 employees will be transferred from Astra's Snäckviken plant in central Södertälje to the new production facility. "We are continuing the expansion of our production facilities in Sweden," says Håkan Mogren, President and CEO of Astra. "The new plant will provide the added capacity for substance manufacture that we need to meet the coming years' growth in volume." Contact persons: Staffan Ternby, Vice President, PR & Information, Astra AB, +46 8 553 261 07 Mikael Widell, Press Officer, PR & Information, Astra AB, +46 8 553 264 28 Michael Olsson, Manager, Investor Relations, Astra AB, +46 8 553 259 52 Jörgen Winroth, Investor Relations U.S., Astra AB,+1 609 896 4148 ------------------------------------------------------------ Please visit http://www.bit.se for further information The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/1999/02/16/19990216BIT00500/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/1999/02/16/19990216BIT00500/bit0002.pdf