DULUTH, Ga. -- Phil Mickelson was named this week’s AstraZeneca Charity Challenge winner for his first-place standing entering the final round of the BellSouth Classic. The AstraZeneca Charity Challenge, formerly known as the CRESTOR® Charity Challenge, is a season-long competition that recognizes and rewards the tournament leader entering the final round at 35 PGA TOUR events. Through the sponsorship, AstraZeneca will donate $3.5 million this year to designated health care charities and will have donated a three-year total of $9.7 million by the conclusion of the 2006 PGA TOUR season.

AstraZeneca produces a wide range of products that make significant contributions to treatment options and patient care including CRESTOR, NEXIUM, SEROQUEL, ARIMIDEX, and PULMICORT RESPULES. Through this year’s sponsorship, as part of its commitment to patient health and well being, AstraZeneca will also designate health care related charities across therapeutic areas as recipients at the 35 PGA TOUR events throughout the year.

For Mickelson’s performance, AstraZeneca will donate $100,000 to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA) Foundation, on behalf of Mickelson and the BellSouth Classic. AAFA is involved in planning an exhibit on asthma and the importance of clean air to the environment and our health at Imagine It! The Children’s Museum of Atlanta. The exhibit, called Take a Deep Breath, opens April 22 and closes June 18.

“Asthma patients are the real winners of the third round,” said Chris Ward, who is not only president of AAFA’s national board of directors, but also a patient who has lived with asthma his entire life.

“There have never been more people with asthma than there are today -- more than 20 million Americans -- but there are better treatments than ever before, too,” said Ward “With their generous donation to AAFA, AstraZeneca is proving that it’s not only the leader in asthma treatment, but a leader in supporting the asthma community as well.”

“AstraZeneca’s partnership with the PGA TOUR is an integral part of our mission of giving back in local communities throughout America,” said Tony Zook, CEO, AstraZeneca U.S. “The AstraZeneca Charity Challenge offers a unique platform for providing important disease awareness, health information and education to make a difference in the lives of patients and consumers everyday.”

The AstraZeneca Charity Challenge is the centerpiece of a multi-year PGA TOUR partnership with AstraZeneca (NYSE:AZN). Last year, AstraZeneca donated $3.5 million through the program. Highlights from the AZCC include:

• Last week, the AstraZeneca Charity Challenge winner at THE PLAYERS Championship was Stephen Ames.

• At 10 of the first 11 tournaments of 2006, the AstraZeneca Charity Challenge winner or co-winner went on to win the tournament

• More than 85 charities have benefited from the program.

• Vijay Singh leads all players with eight AstraZeneca Charity Challenge wins. With some of his charitable “winnings,” Singh donated money to the American Red Cross Hurricane Relief Funds in Florida and New Orleans.

• Other multiple winners have included Tom Lehman (four), Chad Campbell, Luke Donald, Sergio Garcia, Rod Pampling and David Toms (three), and the following players who triumphed twice: Stuart Appleby, Bart Bryant, Chris DiMarco, Jim Furyk, Arron Oberholser, Joe Ogilvie, Kenny Perry, Carl Pettersson, Ted Purdy, Adam Scott, Stephen Ames, Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods.

Fans can log on to www.astrazeneca.pgatour.com to read about past AstraZeneca Charity Challenge winners and learn more about AstraZeneca.

About the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA)

The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America® (AAFA) is the leading national nonprofit patient advocacy organization fighting asthma and allergic diseases. AAFA provides free information to the public, offers educational programs to consumers and health professionals, leads advocacy efforts to improve patient care and supports research to find cures. For more information log onto www.aafa.org.

About AstraZeneca

AstraZeneca is a major international healthcare business engaged in the research, development, manufacture and marketing of prescription pharmaceuticals and the supply of healthcare services. It is one of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies with healthcare sales of over $21.4 billion and leading positions in sales of gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, respiratory, oncology and neuroscience products. AstraZeneca is listed in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (Global) as well as the FTSE4Good Index. Worldwide, AstraZeneca has six major research and development sites, four discovery facilities and a clinical research site. In total, AstraZeneca’s R&D organization is comprised of more 11,500 people located in seven countries including Canada, France, India, Japan, Sweden, United Kingdom and the United States.