HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. -- Aaron Baddeley and Jim Furyk were named this week’s AstraZeneca Charity Challenge winners for their first-place standing entering the final round of the Verizon Heritage. 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 Baddeley's and Furyk's performances, AstraZeneca will donate $50,000 to the American College of Rheumatology on behalf of the Verizon Heritage and $50,000 to the Physician Assistant Foundation on behalf of Baddeley and Furyk.

“The ACR Research and Education Foundation (REF) is both pleased and grateful to receive this donation from the 2006 AstraZeneca Charity Challenge,” says James R. O'Dell, MD, REF President. “The ongoing goal of the REF is to ensure that current and future generations of patients with arthritis benefit from the best trained rheumatologists armed with the best possible research. This generous contribution will help us achieve this goal.”

“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:

• Two weeks ago, the AstraZeneca Charity Challenge winner at the BellSouth Classic was Phil Mickelson.

• At 11 of the first 12 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 and Phil Mickelson (four), Jim Furyk, 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, Arron Oberholser, Joe Ogilvie, Kenny Perry, Carl Pettersson, Ted Purdy, Adam Scott, Stephen Ames 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 American College of Rheumatology

The mission of the ACR Research and Education Foundation is to improve patients’ lives through support of research and training that advances the prevention, treatment and cure of rheumatic diseases.

About the Physician Assistant Foundation

The Physician Assistant Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the American Academy of Physician Assistants, facilitates the delivery of health care in the community through humanitarian efforts. The Foundation provides grants, awards and scholarships to Physician Assistants (PAs) and PA students so that they can provide better care for patients in their communities.

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.