AstraZeneca Privacy Statement

ASTRAZENECA PRIVACY STATEMENT

LAST UPDATED: July 08, 2008

Introduction
Collection of Information
Security
Cookies
Advertising
Minors
Tell A Friend
Links
Contact Us

Introduction

AstraZeneca respects that the privacy of your personal information is important to you. We have developed this privacy statement to let you know how the Information (as defined below) that we collect about you will be maintained and used. We may change this statement from time to time so we ask that you revisit this privacy statement to be sure that you are familiar with our current policies because the revised policy will apply to you. In the event we make any changes to this privacy statement we will post the revised policy on this web site together with the date on which we made the most recent changes.

If you are a physician or other health care professional, this statement only applies to Information collected online through this web site, other AstraZeneca web sites, or where we specifically say that this policy shall apply.

Collection of Information

AstraZeneca may collect personally identifiable information about you, such as name, address, telephone number, e-mail address, date of birth, or other similar information ("Information") when you voluntarily submit it to us or when you give permission to others to share such Information with us. Your Information may be used to fulfill your request for information, to send you health-related materials, to develop products, services and programs that you may find useful, to provide access to your account information, or to contact you. If you do provide Information to us, you agree that we may contact you through a variety of methods including postal mail, e-mail and telephone. From time to time we may also request that you provide us with additional demographic, or other health information through responses to questions or surveys, or through use of search functions or other forms of feedback that we may use to serve you better. Except as specifically provided in this privacy statement, AstraZeneca will not transfer, sell or rent Information to anyone without your consent. We may share your information with other AstraZeneca companies worldwide or with our co-promotion partners. We may occasionally transfer or share your Information with third parties who perform certain services on our behalf. Such third parties have agreed that they will only use the Information on behalf of AstraZeneca. All Information that we transfer or share will be used and disclosed in a manner consistent with the terms of this privacy statement.

You can visit much of our web site without providing us with Information. However, some areas of the web site may require that you register in order to access specific content, features, interactive tools, or services or participate in a particular activity, such as subscribing to a newsletter or joining a program. You may always choose not to provide the requested Information but you may then not be able to participate in the particular activity.

Through our web sites, AstraZeneca also collects non-personally identifiable information relating to such matters as: the total number of visits to our web sites, the number of visitors to each page of our web sites, the Internet Protocol (IP) addresses of our visitors, and the time spent on our web sites. We use this information to understand how our visitors use our web sites so we can improve the customer experience. We may also use your IP address to help diagnose problems with our servers, and for purposes of system administration. From time to time we may also share non-personally identifiable information with others.

We gather aggregate data about visitors to our web sites for purposes of product development and improvement of our web sites, and also for market analysis. We may provide information from our web sites in aggregate form without personally identifiable information to third parties. Any third party that receives aggregated data must agree not to attempt to re-identify the persons to whom it belongs.

If you contact us to report on your experience, or the experiences of your patient, with the use of our products, we may contact you for follow up information. We may also use the information you provide to submit reports of side effects to government agencies such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or as otherwise required by law or governmental audit.

AstraZeneca reserves the right to share your Information in order to respond to authorized information requests of government authorities, the courts, law enforcement agencies or where required by law, or for corporate audits or to respond to complaints or security threats. Further, in the event we determine for business reasons to reorganize, sell or transfer a product or all or a part of our business, we may share your Information with third parties involved in such transactions, such as actual or prospective purchasers, and other business partners, in which case we will obtain written assurances that the Information will be appropriately protected.

Security

AstraZeneca uses reasonable technical and administrative safeguards to protect Information from unauthorized access, use, loss or destruction. Any Information you provide to us is held on a secured web server (a computer that stores web documents, allowing users to access web pages using web client software) operated by AstraZeneca (or by an agent of AstraZeneca performing services on our behalf). Please be advised that although we have tried to create a secured and reliable site for you, the confidentiality of any Information, or communication or material transmitted over the Internet cannot be guaranteed. We urge you to exercise caution when conveying personally identifiable information over the Internet. When disclosing any personally identifiable information, you should remain mindful that such information might be accessible by the public and, consequently, may be collected and used by others without your consent. You should also recognize that your use of the Internet and this site is solely at your own risk.

Cookies

The use of cookies is now standard, and you will find them used by most major web sites. A cookie is a text file stored on a user's computer hard drive containing information about the user. Cookies are used for a variety of purposes, including to help you log into parts of our web sites, to enable us to track the interests of our users to enhance their experience on this site, for market research purposes, and to deliver content specific to a user's interests. We will place a cookie in the web browser (e.g., Internet Explorer) file of your computer when you visit our site; we or an independent advertising company or other contractor whom we engage may also from time to time deliver a uniquely-numbered cookie to your web browser through an e-mail if you have opted-in to receive e-mail from AstraZeneca. You may delete or decline the cookie using the tools in your web browser, and you may still use our site; however, some parts of our site may not work properly for you.

Advertising

We sometimes use independent advertising companies to provide ads on our behalf across the Internet ("advertising company"). These advertising companies also help us analyze our advertising campaigns and the general usage patterns of visitors to our web sites. This is primarily accomplished through the use of cookies, and Internet tags (such as action tags, web beacons, pixel tags, clear GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) images and invisible GIFs). Such companies may place these tags on our web sites or on other web sites. Used in conjunction with cookies, Internet tags are programmed by the advertising company to collect certain non-personally identifiable information about visitors to our web site and other web sites. This information may be used to provide ads about goods and services of potential interest to you, or to improve your web site experience. The advertising company does not know the names, addresses, e-mail addresses or telephone numbers of web site visitors, and does not link online actions to an identifiable person. The advertising company reports the non-identifiable data that it collects on our behalf back to us without identifying specific web site visits (other than to our own Web sites). We use this information to improve our web sites and our advertising. In order to deliver more relevant content or advertising, from time to time we may link the information we receive to our customers' Information. If we do link such data, it is treated under this policy as Information as described above under Collection of Information. If you would like more information about this practice, or if you want to prevent an independent advertising company from sending and reading cookies or action tags on your computer, you can visit the advertising company's web site and opt out.

Minors

We do not knowingly collect directly any personal information from anyone under the age of 13, nor do we knowingly market our web sites to anyone under the age of 13.

Tell-A-Friend

On some AstraZeneca sites, you can choose to use a "tell-a-friend" or referral function on our website to let someone else know about an AstraZeneca web site or product. In such a case we will ask for your friend's name and email address, as well as Information about you. The information that you may provide for a friend will be used to send an email on your behalf and will not be collected or stored by AstraZeneca for any additional purpose.

Links

As a convenience to you, AstraZeneca may provide links from this web site to other web sites maintained by independent third parties. This privacy statement applies solely to the information collected on this web site. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage you to be aware when you leave this site and to read the privacy policies of any web site that you may visit.

Contact Us

We welcome your questions and comments regarding this privacy statement and the use of your Information. You may also contact us to update or correct the Information you have provided to us or to opt out of services that you may have previously signed up for. If you have any questions about this privacy statement or about our use of Information, or if you would like to request any changes be made to your Information, please contact the Information Center at AstraZeneca at 800-236-9933.

Important Information
About SYMBICORT

*Subject to eligibility rules; restrictions apply.

Please read this summary carefully and then ask your doctor about SYMBICORT^®.

Important Safety Information About SYMBICORT

SYMBICORT contains formoterol, a long-acting beta₂-adrenergic agonist (LABA). LABA medicines such as formoterol increase the risk of death from asthma problems. It is not known whether budesonide, the other medicine in SYMBICORT, reduces the risk of death from asthma problems seen with formoterol.

SYMBICORT should be used only if your health care provider decides that your asthma is not well controlled with a long-term asthma control medicine, such as an inhaled corticosteroid, or that your asthma is severe enough to begin treatment with SYMBICORT.

SYMBICORT does not replace rescue inhalers for sudden asthma symptoms.

Be sure to tell your health care provider about all your health conditions, including heart conditions or high blood pressure, and all medicines you may be taking. Some patients taking SYMBICORT may experience increased blood pressure, heart rate, or change in heart rhythm.

Do not use SYMBICORT more often than prescribed. While taking SYMBICORT, never use another medicine containing a LABA for any reason. Ask your health care provider or pharmacist if any of your other medicines are LABA medicines, as using too much LABA may cause chest pain, increase in blood pressure, fast and irregular heartbeat, headache, tremor, and nervousness.

Patients taking SYMBICORT should call their health care provider or get emergency medical care:

if you experience serious allergic reactions including rash, hives, swelling of the face, mouth and tongue, and breathing problems.
if you think you are exposed to infections such as chicken pox or measles, or if you have any signs of infection. You may have a higher chance of infection.
if you experience an increase in wheezing right after taking SYMBICORT, eye problems including glaucoma and cataracts, decreases in bone mineral density, swelling of blood vessels (signs include a feeling of pins and needles or numbness of arms or legs, flu like symptoms, rash, pain and swelling of the sinuses), decrease in blood potassium and increase in blood sugar levels.

If you are switching to SYMBICORT from an oral corticosteroid, follow your health care provider’s instructions to avoid serious health risks when you stop using oral corticosteroids.

Additional Information Specific to Asthma

If you are taking SYMBICORT, see your health care provider if your asthma does not improve or gets worse. It is important that your health care provider assess your asthma control on a regular basis. Your doctor will decide if it is possible for you to stop taking SYMBICORT and start taking a long-term asthma control medicine without loss of asthma control.

Children and adolescents who take LABA medicines may have an increased risk of being hospitalized for asthma problems.

Common side effects include nose and throat irritation, headache, upper respiratory tract infection, sore throat, sinusitis, stomach discomfort, flu, back pain, nasal congestion, vomiting, and thrush in the mouth and throat.

Additional Information Specific to COPD

Call your doctor if you notice any of the following symptoms: change in amount or color of sputum, fever, chills, increased cough, or increased breathing problems. People with COPD may have a higher chance of pneumonia.

Common side effects include inflammation of the nasal passages and throat, thrush in the mouth and throat, bronchitis, sinusitis, and upper respiratory tract infection.

Approved Uses for SYMBICORT

SYMBICORT 80/4.5 and 160/4.5 are medicines for the treatment of asthma for people 12 years and older whose doctor has determined that their asthma is not well controlled with a long term asthma control medicine such as an inhaled corticosteroid or whose asthma is severe enough to begin treatment with SYMBICORT. SYMBICORT is not a treatment for sudden asthma symptoms.

SYMBICORT 160/4.5 is for adults with COPD, including chronic bronchitis and emphysema. You should only take 2 inhalations of SYMBICORT twice a day. Higher doses will not provide additional benefits.

Talk to your doctor about prescription SYMBICORT.

Read Prescribing Information, including Boxed WARNING, with Medication Guide Adobe PDF (PDF — 551 KB)

You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA.
Visit www.FDA.gov/medwatch or call 1-800-FDA-1088.

The information on this Web site should not take the place of talking with your doctor or health care provider about how to manage and treat your asthma or COPD. If you have any questions about your condition, or if you would like more information about SYMBICORT, asthma, or COPD, talk to your doctor or pharmacist. Only you and your doctor can decide if SYMBICORT is right for you.

This product information is intended for US customers only.