AZ enters US licensing agreement with Ironwood

ASTRAZENECA ENTERS INTO US LICENSING AGREEMENT WITH IRONWOOD PHARMACEUTICALS FOR
LESINURAD

Agreement includes US rights to Zurampic and lesinurad/allopurinol fixed-dose
combination in gout

AstraZeneca today announced that it has entered into a licensing agreement with
Ironwood Pharmaceuticals for the exclusive US rights to Zurampic® (lesinurad).
Zurampic was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in December
2015 (https://www.astrazeneca.com/media-centre/press-releases/2015/ZURAMPIC
-lesinurad-approved-by-US-FDA-for-patients-with-gout-22122015.html), in
combination with a xanthine oxidase inhibitor (XOI), for the treatment of
hyperuricemia associated with uncontrolled gout.

Under the terms of the agreement, Ironwood will acquire exclusive US rights to
Zurampic. In addition, Ironwood will gain the exclusive US rights to the fixed
-dose combination of lesinurad and allopurinol. AstraZeneca plans to submit the
fixed-dose combination programme for regulatory review in the second half of
2016. Ironwood will pay AstraZeneca sales-related and other milestone payments
of up to $265 million and tiered single-digit royalties on Product Sales.
AstraZeneca will manufacture and supply Zurampic, provide certain support and
services to Ironwood and undertake the FDA post-approval commitment on their
behalf.

Luke Miels, Executive Vice President, Global Product and Portfolio Strategy,
AstraZeneca, said: "We're pleased to be entering into this agreement with
Ironwood, a company with whom we already have a number of successful commercial
partnerships. Our new agreement with Ironwood will ensure the successful launch
of Zurampic in the US, while allowing us to concentrate our resources on the
innovative medicines in our main therapy areas."

Tom McCourt, Chief Commercial Officer of Ironwood, said: "This transaction
enables Ironwood to leverage our strong commercial capabilities to advance a
durable franchise of innovative medicines addressing a significant unmet need in
which patients are highly motivated and seeking relief. With focused investment
into the gout franchise over time, we believe we can maximize cash flows and
accelerate our efforts to build a top-performing commercial biotechnology
company."

Gout is a serious, progressive and debilitating form of inflammatory arthritis.
Approximately two million patients in the US on urate lowering therapy remain
inadequately controlled, as XOI treatment alone is not sufficient to achieve
their treatment goals.

The development of AstraZeneca's gout portfolio is led by Ardea Biosciences, a
wholly owned subsidiary. The transaction does not include the transfer of any
AstraZeneca or Ardea employees or facilities. AstraZeneca also retains the
rights to the rest of the Ardea portfolio, including RDEA3170, a Phase IIb
ready, potent selective uric acid reabsorption inhibitor. Under the terms of the
agreement, Ironwood will have certain rights to potentially access RDEA3170 in
gout indications in the US. The licensing agreement is expected to close in the
second quarter of 2016, subject to antitrust approval in the US.

Financial considerations

Revenue from the licensing agreement will provide AstraZeneca with recurring
Externalisation Revenue from any expected milestone payments and tiered single
-digit royalty payments on Product Sales. The agreement does not impact
AstraZeneca's financial guidance for 2016.

About Zurampic

ZURAMPIC® (lesinurad) is the first in a new class of medicines called Selective
Uric Acid Reabsorption Inhibitors (SURI) that work selectively to complement
xanthine oxidase inhibitors (XOIs) in the treatment of hyperuricemia associated
with uncontrolled gout. ZURAMPIC is not recommended for the treatment of
asymptomatic hyperuricemia and should not be used as monotherapy. XOIs reduce
the production of uric acid; ZURAMPIC increases the excretion of uric acid.
Together, the combination of ZURAMPIC and an XOI provides a dual mechanism of
action that both decreases production and increases excretion of uric acid,
thereby lowering serum uric acid (sUA) levels in patients who have not achieved
target serum acid levels with XOI treatment alone. ZURAMPIC selectively inhibits
the function of transporter proteins urate transporter (URAT1) and organic anion
transporter 4 (OAT4), involved in uric acid reabsorption in the kidney. In
people, it does not inhibit OAT1 and OAT3, which are drug transporters in the
kidney associated with drug-drug interactions. The efficacy of ZURAMPIC was
established in three Phase III clinical trials that evaluated a once daily dose
of ZURAMPIC in combination with the XOI allopurinol or febuxostat compared to
XOI alone.

About Ironwood

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: IRWD) is a commercial biotechnology company
focused on creating medicines that make a difference for patients, building
value for our fellow shareholders, and empowering our passionate team. We are
advancing an innovative pipeline of medicines in multiple areas of significant
unmet need, including irritable bowel syndrome with constipation (IBS-C)/chronic
idiopathic constipation (CIC), vascular and fibrotic diseases, and refractory
gastroesophageal reflux disease, among others. We discovered, developed and are
commercializing linaclotide, the U.S. branded prescription market leader in the
IBS-C/CIC category, and we are applying our proven R&D and commercial
capabilities to advance multiple internally-developed and externally-accessed
product opportunities. Ironwood was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in
Cambridge, Mass. For more information, please visit www.ironwoodpharma.com or
www.twitter.com/ironwoodpharma; information that may be important to investors
will be routinely posted in both these locations.

About Ardea Biosciences

Ardea Biosciences is a member of the AstraZeneca Group, located in San Diego,
California. Ardea is leading the development of AstraZeneca's gout portfolio,
including Zurampic and RDEA3170.

About AstraZeneca

AstraZeneca is a global, innovation-driven biopharmaceutical business that
focuses on the discovery, development and commercialisation of prescription
medicines, primarily for the treatment of diseases in three main therapy areas -
respiratory, inflammation, autoimmune disease (RIA), cardiovascular and
metabolic disease (CVMD) and oncology - as well as in infection and
neuroscience. AstraZeneca operates in over 100 countries and its innovative
medicines are used by millions of patients worldwide. For more information
please visit: www.astrazeneca.com

CONTACTS

Media Enquiries
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Key: RIA - Respiratory, Inflammation and Autoimmunity, CVMD - Cardiovascular and
Metabolic Disease,

ING - Infection, Neuroscience and Gastrointestinal

26 April 2016

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