Data Presented at the European Atherosclerosis Society Congress Reinforces the Differentiating Benefits of CRESTOR[TM] in Comparison to Atorvastatin and Simvastatin

London (ots/PRNewswire) -

THIS RELEASE IS INTENDED EXCLUSIVELY FOR EUROPEAN MEDIA

Data presented today from the VOYAGER study demonstrate the
benefits of aggressive statin therapy with CRESTOR(TM) (rosuvastatin)
in comparison to atorvastatin and simvastatin in high risk patients.
VOYAGER is an individual patient data meta-analysis of 32 258
patients from 37 randomised studies, comparing the effects of statin
therapy with CRESTOR(TM) (rosuvastatin) to that of atorvastatin and
simvastatin. These data are being presented at the 2012 European
Atherosclerosis Society (EAS) Congress in Milan, Italy.

The data suggests that achieving an LDL-C goal of <70 mg/dL or
>50% reduction in LDL-C levels in high risk patients requires
aggressive statin therapy. As statin dose increased, a higher
percentage of patients achieved these goals, which reflect the latest
European Atherosclerosis Society (EAS) and European Society of
Cardiology (ESC) Guidelines for the Management of Dyslipidaemias.
Also, a greater percentage of patients achieved this goal with
CRESTOR than with equal or double doses of atorvastatin or
simvastatin.

"The VOYAGER analyses being presented at EAS provide further
evidence of the efficacy of CRESTOR in helping high risk patients
reach recommended target lipid levels, as compared with atorvastatin
and simvastatin," said Russ Esterline, VP Global Product Development
Cardiovascular, AstraZeneca. "CRESTOR consistently and significantly
increases HDL-C and helps patients get to target LDL-C goals of less
than 70 mg/dL."

Other VOYAGER data presented at the EAS congress include:

- Impact of increasing statin dose on the ratio of non-HDL-C to HDL-C:
results from the VOYAGER individual patient data meta-analysis
- Data shows that increasing statin dose has a favourable impact on
non-HDL-C/HDL-C ratio; these results support the use of higher doses of effective
statins to reduce this cardiovascular (CV) risk marker
- No relationship between changes in atherogenic lipid parameters and CRP
with statin use in VOYAGER: Implications for Cardiovascular Risk Reduction
- This analysis found no clinically meaningful relationship between changes
in LDL-C and baseline or change in hsCRP with intensive statin treatment,
suggesting that any CV benefit associated with hsCRP reduction may reflect statin
effects beyond their ability to reduce atherogenic lipid levels

As evidenced by the results of these analyses, VOYAGER data
continues to demonstrate the benefits of aggressive statin therapy
for the reduction of cardiovascular risk. The safety and tolerability
of all statins used in VOYAGER were in line with the experience from
previous studies.

CRESTOR has been researched extensively for over 13 years,
including 120 clinical trials of more than 67,000 patients worldwide
from more than 55 countries.

NOTES TO EDITORS

VOYAGER (An indiVidual patient data meta-analysis Of statin
therapY in At risk Groups: Effects of Rosuvastatin, atorvastatin and
simvastatin) is an individual patient data meta-analysis of 32 258
patients from 37 randomised studies comparing the lipid modifying
effects of rosuvastatin with that of atorvastatin and simvastatin.
The patients include almost 9,000 with diabetes and over 15,000 with
atherosclerotic disease.

CRESTOR has now received regulatory approvals in over 109
countries. Worldwide, doctors have written nearly 330 million
prescriptions for CRESTOR. Data from clinical trials and real world
use shows that the safety profile for rosuvastatin is in line with
that of other marketed statins.

About AstraZeneca

AstraZeneca is a global, innovation-driven biopharmaceutical
business with a primary focus on the discovery, development and
commercialisation of prescription medicines for gastrointestinal,
cardiovascular, neuroscience, respiratory and inflammation, oncology
and infectious disease. AstraZeneca operates in over 100 countries
and its innovative medicines are used by millions of patients
worldwide. For more information please visit:
http://www.astrazeneca.com.

ots Originaltext: AstraZeneca
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Contact:
For further information, please contact: David Ginivan, Global
Communications Director, AstraZeneca, Telephone: +44(0)1625-516973,
Mobile:
+44(0)7775-412-619, david.ginivan@astrazeneca.com