WILMINGTON, Del.-- Zeneca Inc. today announced its angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor ZESTRIL(R) (lisinopril) tablets have received FDA clearance to treat acute heart attack patients within 24 hours to help them live longer. Approximately 1.6 million people per year suffer acute heart attacks and of these approximately 0.6 million die from this cause.

"This new use for Zestril represents a significant business opportunity for Zeneca Pharmaceuticals," said Jim O'Shea, Vice President of Sales and Marketing.

Zestril is also used to treat hypertension and as adjunctive therapy in the management of congestive heart failure in patients not adequately responding to diuretics and digitalis. In the first half of 1995, the Zestril group of products had $207 million in sales, making it the second most frequently prescribed ACE inhibitor.

Zestril has already received clearance earlier this year for treating acute heart attacks in the U.K., France, Sweden, Spain and Mexico. Other countries are expected to grant regulatory approval later this year.

In the United States, Zeneca Pharmaceuticals is a business unit of Zeneca Inc., a $2.5 billion bioscience company with 6,500 employees and 45 manufacturing and research and development sites. Zeneca Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the UK-based Zeneca Group PLC (NYSE: ZEN), a $6.9 billion international bioscience business.

Additional Background Information for Trade Press

Zestril can now be used in hemodynamically stable heart attack patients within 24 hours of acute heart attack to improve survival.

The new indication for Zestril tablets is based on GISSI-3 (the third study of the Gruppo Italiano per lo Studio della Sopravvivenza nell'Infarto Miocardico) conducted in Italy. GISSI-3 examined whether the early administration (within 24 hours of diagnosis) of lisinopril, nitrates, or a combination of these two therapies, in addition to standard therapy for six weeks, would have an impact on survival after myocardial infarction.

Completed in 1994, the 19,394-patient study demonstrated that at six weeks patients receiving lisinopril had a decreased mortality risk of 11 percent over patients who did not receive lisinopril. Increased incidences of hypotension and renal dysfunction were found in the lisinopril patients.

Like all ACE inhibitors, Zestril should be discontinued as soon as pregnancy is detected because of concerns about its effects on the unborn child. As with other ACE inhibitors, Zestril has also caused headache, dizziness, and cough, and in rare cases, a potentially dangerous swelling of the mouth and throat. For further information contact Mark Sahl, Zeneca Pharmaceuticals (302) 886-3638. Full prescribing information also available on request.

CONTACT: Zeneca Inc. | Mark Sahl | Pharmaceuticals, (302) 886-7859 | or | Judith Auchard | Public Affairs, (302) 886 3638 | or | Ed Seage | Investor Relations, (302) 886-4065