CORPORATE FINANCIALS ONLINE Fastest direct links to news from publicly-traded companies.

             Migraine Tool Reduces Patient Suffering




CONTACTS:
       James G. Minnick                 Cynthia Callaghan
       AstraZeneca                      AstraZeneca
       302/886-5135                     302/886-2959
       jim.minnick@astrazeneca.com      cynthia.callaghan@astrazeneca.com


Migraine Tool Reduces Patient Suffering, Saves Time, 
According to New Study

SAN DIEGO - May 1, 2000 -  A migraine treatment breakthrough will be discussed
today at the American Academy of Neurology annual meeting.  Results of an
international trial sponsored by AstraZeneca (NYSE:AZN) show that MIDAS, an
innovative, yet simple, five-question form, helps migraine patients find
appropriate medication the first time they talk to their doctor.(1)  Without
this tool, many patients suffer through a lengthy and inefficient treatment
process starting with simple analgesics and working their way up to more
potent medications when previous medications fail.

Imagine feeling so ill that you could not take care of your children or go to
work or spend time with your spouse. This is the disability experienced by
many migraine sufferers.(2)  The MIDAS questionnaire, for MIgraine Disability
Assessment Scale, is designed to allow patients with severe migraine to skip
simple analgesics in the course of treatment.  In the past, physicians have
not had a clinically relevant reliable tool to assess disability at the onset
of treatment, so they have started patients with a simple analgesic,
regardless of the severity of their migraine attacks.

Doctors use MIDAS to measure a sufferer's disability and assign a score based
on answers to questions about time lost from the workplace, housework, and
leisure activities.  This information helps physicians to select the most
appropriate treatment plan, giving simple analgesics like aspirin to patients
with lower scores, and prescribing more powerful medications to patients with
higher scores.(1)

In this study, migraine sufferers with moderate to high levels of disability
were effectively treated with ZOMIG (zolmitriptan) Tablets.  Researchers
found that treating patients according to their MIDAS scores produced better
results than traditional stepped-care approaches.(1) The MIDAS questionnaire
is available on the Internet at www.MIDAS-migraine.net , and migraine patients
are encouraged to discuss their MIDAS scores with their doctors.

MEASURING EFFICACY OF DIFFERENT TREATMENT APPROACHES
An analysis presented here today compares three common strategies of migraine
management. Using stepped care across attacks patients treat three attacks with
simple analgesics and then "step up" to ZOMIG for additional attacks if the
first treatment is inadequate.  The second strategy, stepped care within
attacks, involves starting patients with simple analgesics but adding ZOMIG if
headache relief is not achieved within two hours of initial treatment.  Lastly,
the stratified care approach uses MIDAS scores to prescribe ZOMIG to patients
with high levels of disability and simple analgesics to patients with less
disability.(1) Disability time and improvement in the severity of headache at
two hours were significantly better for stratified care versus step-care across
or within attacks.(1)

"This is the first randomized trial to compare strategies of selecting and
sequencing migraine medications," said study lead author Richard Lipton, M.D.,
of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in Bronx, N.Y.  "The results show
that if doctors consider headache-related disability as measured by MIDAS in
selecting migraine therapies patient outcomes improve."

ABOUT MIGRAINE, ZOMIG, AND ASTRAZENECA
Migraine is a chronic medical condition affecting upwards of 23 million
Americans.(3)  Attacks are characterized by severe unilateral head pain lasting
between four and 72 hours and often are accompanied by nausea, vomiting, and
sensitivity to light and/or sound. The condition usually occurs in people
between the ages of 25 and 55 and predominantly affects women.(4)

ZOMIG (zolmitriptan) Tablets are indicated for the acute treatment of migraine
with or without aura in adults. ZOMIG is not intended to prevent attacks from
happening but to relieve pain regardless of when it occurs.  ZOMIG is
contraindicated for patients with uncontrolled hypertension, ischemic heart
disease, or other significant underlying heart disease.  In addition, ZOMIG
should not be administered to patients who are hypersensitive to zolmitriptan
or any of the inactive ingredients of ZOMIG Tablets. ZOMIG should not be taken
by patients who have certain types of heart disease or uncontrolled high blood
pressure.  Very rarely, some people without recognized heart disease may have
serious heart-related problems.  Also, if patients think they may have risk
factors for heart disease such as smoking, high blood pressure, high
cholesterol, or a family history of heart disease, or if they are pregnant,
nursing, or taking medications, patients should talk to their health care
provider.  The most common side effects associated with taking ZOMIG include
dizziness; tightness, pressure or pain in the neck, throat, or jaw; fatigue;
tingling sensations; drowsiness; or nausea.

AstraZeneca (NYSE:AZN) is a major international health care business engaged
in the research, development, manufacture, and marketing of ethical
(prescription) pharmaceuticals and the supply of health care services.  It is
one of the top five pharmaceutical companies in the world with health care
sales of $15 billion and leading positions in sales of gastrointestinal,
oncology, anesthesia including pain management, cardiovascular, central
nervous system (CNS), and respiratory products.  In the United States,
AstraZeneca is a $7.4 billion health care business with approximately 9,500
employees.


                                # # #

*Full Prescribing Information is enclosed. For additional copies, please call
800-456-3669, ext. 2231, or access our web site at www.astrazeneca-us.com or
www.zomig.com.

(1) Lipton R, Stewart W, Sawyer J.  Stratified Care is a More Effective
Migraine Treatment Strategy Than Stepped Care: Results of a Randomized
Clinical Trial. Poster presented at the American Academy of Neurology Annual
Meeting in San Diego April 29 - May 6, 2000.
(2) Lipton R, Stewart W. Managing Your Migraine, A Guide for People with
Migraine. Zeneca Pharmaceuticals:  1999; 8.
(3) Stewart W, Lipton R, Celentano X. Prevalence of Migraine Headache in the
United States:  Relation to Age, Income, Race and Other Sociodemographic
Factors.  The Journal of the American Medical Association. 1992; 267:64-69.
(4) Rapoport A, Adleman J. Cost of Migraine Management: A Pharmacoeconomic
Overview. The American Journal of Managed Care. 1998; 4: 531-545. MIDAS
Reduces Patient Suffering, Saves Money/ Page 3 of 3

End.