Abbott announced that Abbott and AstraZeneca will discontinue their joint collaboration for the development of Certriad (rosuvastatin/fenofibric acid delayed release) capsules. The companies reached this decision after careful consideration of the Complete Response Letter received from the US Food and Drug Administration, the resulting regulatory delay and the commercial attractiveness of the product in the US market.

There will be no financial impact to Abbott's ongoing earnings per share in 2010 or 2011 resulting from this action.

Abbott is a global, broad-based health care company devoted to the discovery, development, manufacture and marketing of pharmaceuticals and medical products, including nutritionals, devices and diagnostics.

AstraZeneca is a global, innovation-driven biopharmaceutical business with a primary focus on the discovery, development and commercialization of prescription medicines.