AstraZeneca - EU Competition Authority

ASTRAZENECA - EU COMPETITION AUTHORITY AstraZeneca confirms that the European Commission earlier this year made enquiries in February 2000 relating to AstraZeneca's defence of its intellectual property and other rights relating to omeprazole. AstraZeneca's policy is to comply with all applicable laws, including Competition Laws, and this policy is taken very seriously by the Company and its employees. AstraZeneca is co-operating fully with the commission with respect to its enquiries. AstraZeneca is currently pursuing a number of legal and other commercial steps which are quite properly designed to protect its hard won franchise relating to omeprazole ('Losec'). AstraZeneca has no hesitation in vigorously defending its legitimate legal interests. AstraZeneca believes that the Commission's investigation may have commenced as a result of a complaint by a third party which is actually or potentially involved in generic omeprazole and who may be involved in attempts to 'jump the gun' before patent expiry in order to improperly obtain a commercial advantage. The mere fact of an investigation does not in any way imply that the Commission has come to any conclusions in relation to the matter being investigated, and AstraZeneca is confident that its actions will be fully vindicated. At this time, AstraZeneca has nothing further to add, except that it is confident that any allegations or complaint are not well founded and will be held to be unsubstantiated. Kontaktpersoner: Staffan Ternby, 08-553 261 07 Mikael Widell, 08-553 264 28/070 311 99 60 ------------------------------------------------------------ Please visit http://www.bit.se for further information The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2000/05/17/20000517BIT01030/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2000/05/17/20000517BIT01030/bit0002.pdf