AstraZeneca says its president of China operations is under investigation

AstraZeneca said Chinese President Leon Wang was under investigation and the drugmaker would cooperate with Chinese authorities.

The company did not say what the investigation is about or whether Chinese authorities have detained Wang. When asked about his whereabouts, a company representative reiterated that the executive was under investigation.

The Anglo-Swedish company said in a statement on Wednesday that its China operations were “under the leadership of the current CEO of AstraZeneca China”, without providing further details.

“If requested, AstraZeneca will fully cooperate with the investigation,” the statement said.

Shares of AstraZeneca, which has invested heavily in China, the world’s second largest pharmaceutical market, fell 2.8% in London trading after the news.

Wang, who grew up in China and has worked at AstraZeneca for more than a decade, is a high-profile executive who is often quoted in the Chinese business press and holds senior positions in domestic business organizations.

Last year, at an event to mark AstraZeneca’s 30th anniversary in the Chinese market, he said his firm would strive to be a patriotic company in China that “loves the Communist Party.”

In September, China detained a small number of current and former AstraZeneca employees for questioning. At the time, Bloomberg News reported that five people had been detained for questioning about potential illegal activity and that one of the investigations involved the firm’s collection of patient data.

The company did not provide details about the September detentions, and a spokesman did not comment on Wednesday about the status of the employees being held.

According to local Chinese media reports, AstraZeneca has been under investigation since 2021 on suspicion of falsifying genetic testing related to the firm’s lung cancer drug Tagrisso and insurance fraud.

Yin Ming, the former chief executive of AstraZeneca and current commercial director of oncology drug maker BeiGene in China, has also cooperated with the Chinese authorities’ investigation, local business media in China reported in recent days.

It is not clear whether Wang’s case, the arrest of AstraZeneca employees in September and other investigations are related.

AstraZeneca did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment on the other cases. BeiGene also did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Reuters could not reach Yin for comment.

The company is one of the largest multinational drug manufacturers in China, accounting for 13% of the group’s revenues. Last year, the company announced plans to build a $450 million plant in China and signed a number of licensing agreements with Chinese companies.