AstraZeneca Response to February 21, 2008 Ruling In Re: Alabama Medicaid Pharmaceutical AWP Litigation - cv2005-219 - Circuit Court of Montgomer...( WILMINGTON Del. Feb. 21 /- AstraZ...)

WILMINGTON, Del., Feb. 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AstraZeneca believes this lawsuit is legally and factually unfounded and we intend to appeal to the Alabama Supreme Court, if the trial court does not reject the jury's verdict. The case was based on the misleading premise that the Alabama State Medicaid Agency did not understand the basics on how drug prices are established and reported.

We believe numerous errors occurred during the proceedings and that the verdict should not be upheld.

For example, the Court ruled that important information on the workings of the Alabama pharmacy system be withheld throughout the trial. The Court also permitted evidence of earlier, unrelated settlements and proceedings in clear violation of the rules of evidence. These and other reversible errors were compounded by negative public comments by the trial lawyers and state leaders prior to the jury selection process.

AstraZeneca has fully complied with the law, government guidelines and contracts that govern Medicaid pricing. We currently provide medicines to Medicaid programs at the lowest price that we offer to our best business clients, as federal law requires.

AstraZeneca and the State Medicaid program share a common goal of helping people access the medicines they need.

To help patients who have difficulty affording their medicines, we offer patient assistance programs side by side with our medicines. In the last two years alone, AstraZeneca helped more than 28,800 Alabama patients receive more than $25.5 million in savings through its prescription savings programs.