BioSystems International Announces Collaboration Agreement with AstraZeneca

BioSystems International ("BSI") discovers and validatesbiomarkers through partnerships with pharmaceutical, biotechnology anddiagnostics companies and in-house research programs or academiccollaborations. BSI merges pharmaceutical and diagnostics industryexperience with leading scientific and technology expertise inimmunology, proteomics, genomics, separation science, micro/nanoscaleanalysis and bioinformatics.

As a part of this program, BSI will conduct biomarker discoveryusing its proprietary technology platform and AstraZeneca (LSE:AZN)(NYSE:AZN)(STO:AZN) will provide clinical samples and funding. Accordingto the agreement, BSI will retain rights to and income from diagnosticapplications, and AstraZeneca receives a non exclusive licence to usethese results for its internal R&D activities including exclusiverights to any new targets. BioSystems International will provideAstraZeneca with detection kits or reagents for use in their internalR&D programs.

AstraZeneca will also have a worldwide licence to cite orrecommend the use of the diagnostic products, developed by BioSystemsand based upon the results of the collaboration, in any promotional orregulatory material or the product label for a therapeutic compound,as may be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration or anysimilar foreign agency.

According to Laszlo Takacs, President & CEO of BioSystemsInternational: "BSI is excited to deliver on the project; togetherwith AstraZeneca's Discovery Medicine Team, we aim to expedite thedevelopment of important new therapies for a chronic disease." BSI'sobjective is to establish a new standard in the research and discoveryof biomarkers suitable for clinical development of drugs and thedevelopment of diagnostic tests. The technology platform and expertiseof the BioSystems International team permits the identification ofdisease or pathology-specific biomarkers within a short time frame,compatible with the constraints of drug development. Biomarkers, whichmake it possible to diagnose a disease, follow its progression orevaluate drug efficacy are crucial for the pharmaceutical industry.They are expected to result in a significant reduction in the cost andduration of clinical trials and improve the clinical follow-up ofpatients.

According to Claude Bertrand, Vice President Respiratory &Inflammation at AstraZeneca: "We believe that BSI's technology andresults will provide AstraZeneca with significant competitiveadvantages in development, registration and marketing of our newosteoarthritis therapeutics"

A few weeks ago, BSI already announced another collaborationagreement with Euroscreen for a biomarker discovery program in aninflammatory disease.

About BioSystems International:

The mission of BioSystems International is to" Bring biomarkers tothe bedside".

BioSystems International ("BSI"), headquartered in Evry, France,operates one research laboratory in France (Genopole Evry) and one inHungary (University of Debrecen) and is currently in late-phasecontract negotiations with several international pharmaceuticalcompanies

Since it was founded in May 2004, BSI has raised funds fromSociete Generale Asset Management and received grants from theHungarian Ministry of Education and the French Innovation Agency (OseoAnvar).

BSI's discovery technology and unique development methods combinehigh throughput monoclonal antibody technology, mass spectrometry andgenome research technologies. It allows BSI to achieve the targetedand quantitative analysis of virtually all proteins in body fluids oftreated or untreated patient groups and control subjects with thesensitivity and precision of ELISA assays faster than any otherexisting technologies. BSI builds a streamlined strategy to identifyand validate the most promising biomarkers via a process that includesconfirmation of clinical relevance on BSI's patient cohorts orclinical material from large Phase II and Phase III clinical trials ofits partners. www.biosys-intl.com

About AstraZeneca

AstraZeneca is a major international healthcare business engagedin the research, development, manufacture and marketing ofprescription pharmaceuticals and the supply of healthcare services. Itis one of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies with healthcaresales of $23.95 billion and leading positions in sales ofgastrointestinal, cardiovascular, neuroscience, respiratory, oncologyand infection products. AstraZeneca is listed in the Dow JonesSustainability Index (Global) as well as the FTSE4Good Index