Zeneca Pharmaceuticals and Rutgers University to collaborate on apoptosis research project.

WILMINGTON, Del.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 3, 1996--Zeneca Pharmaceuticals announced today that it has entered into a five-year agreement with Rutgers University which gives Zeneca access to pioneering investigations into the biologic mechanisms associated with programmed cell death (apoptosis). The collaboration supports Zeneca's fundamental research strategy to identify leading targets for innovative therapeutic intervention.

An understanding of the pathways in apoptosis could lead to novel targets for drug discovery in diseases where there is either excess cell death or excess cell proliferation. The regulation of apoptosis may be critical in developing new treatments for neurodegenerative disorders, cancer, inflammatory diseases and autoimmune disorders. Zeneca anticipates that this research collaboration with Rutgers will provide several significant new approaches for drug discovery.

Rutgers' research scientists are among the world's leaders in identifying the regulatory factors that influence the apoptosis process. Eileen White Ph.D., Associate Professor of molecular biology and biochemistry and a resident faculty member at the Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine (CABM) at Rutgers University, will be leading the joint Zeneca and Rutgers effort.

Last year, Zeneca announced a research collaboration with the School of Biological Science at Manchester University in England. This collaboration is aimed at developing a better understanding of cell cycle control in the areas of cancer and cell adhesion. The research at Manchester should prove complementary to the Rutgers apoptosis initiative.

"The collaboration with Rutgers exemplifies Zeneca's flexible approach to accessing the most innovative science," said David U'Prichard, Executive Vice President and Director of Research for Zeneca Pharmaceuticals. "Both parties are contributing expertise and technologies to the rapid pursuit of novel drug targets in an expanding area of basic research. Such high-potential collaborations are the focus of our research-based Technology Access Group."

Speaking on behalf of Rutgers University, Aaron Shatkin, Director of CABM, noted that "our long-term agreement with Zeneca Pharmaceuticals will provide a powerful boost to our innovative apoptosis research program. Several promising research avenues have already been identified and a number of new approaches are awaiting further research. We see Zeneca as a resourceful and enterprising partner in our research, and we look forward to the growth of this collaboration."

CABM receives funding from the New Jersey Commission on Science and Technology. It is jointly administered by Rutgers and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.

Zeneca Pharmaceuticals is ranked among the top tier of research-based pharmaceutical companies in the world and has earned a world-wide reputation as a research-intensive company dedicated to pharmaceutical discovery, development, and production. In the US, Zeneca Pharmaceuticals is a business unit of Zeneca Inc., a $2.8 billion bioscience company with 6,000 employees at 53 locations in 24 states. Zeneca Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the UK-based Zeneca Group PLC (NYSE: ZEN) a major $7.6 billion international bioscience business engaged in the research, development, manufacture, and marketing of ethical (prescription) pharmaceuticals, agricultural, and specialty chemical products and the supply of health care services.

CONTACT: Steve Lampert

Zeneca Pharmaceuticals

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Judith Auchard

Zeneca Inc.

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