AstraZeneca Appoints Howard Hutchinson as Chief Medical Officer

WILMINGTON, Del., Nov. 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AstraZeneca has announced the appointment of Dr. Howard Hutchinson as Chief Medical Officer, effective today. In his new role, Dr. Hutchinson will provide medical oversight of the early and late stage portfolio in global drug development and interact with medical and industry related organizations as AstraZeneca's senior medical representative.

John Patterson, Executive Director Drug Development, comments, "With Howard's background and expertise I am confident in his ability to improve the quality of our development programs while building on our relationships with key industry groups."

"I look forward to taking on the challenge and responsibility of Chief Medical Officer at AstraZeneca. We have a world-class development organization and I intend on bringing an independent insight and expertise to the development process," adds Dr. Howard Hutchinson.

Dr. Hutchinson most recently held the position of Vice President, Clinical Development in the Cardiovascular/Gastrointestinal Therapy Area at AstraZeneca and has worked for the company in a progression of clinical roles since 1995.

He obtained a degree in Chemistry from Drexel University in 1983, graduating from the Thomas Jefferson University Medical School in 1987. Dr. Hutchinson continued on with a postgraduate degree from the Cardiology Division of the Stanford University School of Medicine in 1995.

Dr. Hutchinson is a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology and an Adjunct Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.

About AstraZeneca

AstraZeneca is a major international healthcare business engaged in the research, development, manufacture and marketing of prescription pharmaceuticals and the supply of healthcare services. It is one of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies with healthcare sales of $23.95 billion and leading positions in sales of gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, neuroscience, respiratory, oncology and infection products. In the United States, AstraZeneca is a $10.77 billion healthcare business with more than 12,000 employees. AstraZeneca is listed in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (Global) as well as the FTSE4Good Index.

For more information about AstraZeneca, please visit: http://www.astrazeneca-us.com/.