Notes 6-9
- 6 Reconciliation of movement in shareholders’ funds
- 7 Share capital
- 8 Commitments and contingent liabilities
- 9 Statutory and other information
8 COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENT LIABILITIES
Crestor (rosuvastatin)
From 2004 to present, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP and/or AstraZeneca LP in the US were served with 15 individual lawsuits in various US jurisdictions, alleging injury in association with the use of Crestor. 11 of the cases were dismissed in early stages, and another was dismissed after the Court granted AstraZeneca’s motion for summary judgment in June 2007. These decisions were not appealed by the plaintiffs. AstraZeneca intends to vigorously defend the remaining cases, all of which are still in preliminary stages. In addition, a motion to institute a class action was filed in Quebec, Canada against AstraZeneca PLC and AstraZeneca Canada Inc. in which the petitioners alleged injury as a result of the use of Crestor. In March 2007, the Court granted the named plaintiff’s request to discontinue this action.
AstraZeneca continues to have full confidence in and will vigorously defend and enforce its intellectual property protecting Crestor.
Exanta (ximelagatran)
Four putative and essentially similar securities class actions were filed in the US against AstraZeneca PLC, Håkan Mogren (who currently serves as a Director of AstraZeneca PLC), Sir Tom McKillop, Jonathan Symonds and Percy Barnevik (who are former Directors of AstraZeneca PLC) between January and March 2005. These actions were subsequently consolidated into a single action pending in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York. The Consolidated Amended Complaint alleges that the defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding Exanta clinical trials and the status of the Exanta New Drug Application in the US. The plaintiffs purport to assert claims on behalf of purchasers of AstraZeneca publicly traded securities during the period April 2003 to September 2004 under sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and SEC Rule 10b-5.
The defendants deny the allegations made in the lawsuit and will vigorously defend the action. In 2006 they filed a motion to dismiss the action, and that motion is pending before the Court.
Anti-trust
AstraZeneca is part of a sectoral inquiry by the European Commission into the pharmaceutical industry and was the subject of an unannounced inspection in January 2008. The inquiry relates to the introduction of innovative and generic medicines and it will cover commercial practices, including the use of patents and generics. We understand that several companies have been similarly approached.
The Commission has stated that this inquiry is not aimed at investigating practices where there have been any indications of wrong-doing although it could address any competition law breaches found by means of separate proceedings. The Commission has also stated that it plans to issue an interim report in autumn 2008 and envisages that the final results of its inquiry will be available in spring 2009.
AstraZeneca is cooperating fully with the Commission in relation to its inquiry.
Other
The Company has guaranteed the external borrowing of a subsidiary, in the amount of $288m.
