AstraZeneca’s most senior executive in China, Leon Wang, was detained by Chinese authorities last week, the company confirmed to The Financial Times.
The FTSE 100 company stated that its head of China operations was detained, with two other current and two former executives in the region also under investigation.
A source familiar with the matter indicated that the probe involves the alleged illegal import and sale of the cancer drug Imjudo. Wang is reportedly among those detained as part of this investigation.
Imjudo has been approved for use in other parts of the world but has not yet been authorized in China. Authorities are examining claims that the drug was illegally imported into mainland China from Hong Kong.
This cancer drug is commonly prescribed alongside AstraZeneca’s other cancer drug, Imfinzi, for patients with advanced liver cancer.
AstraZeneca declined to provide further details about the nature of the investigation. A company spokesperson stated, “We will cooperate fully with the Chinese authorities.”
Following a sharp drop in its market valuation by £15 billion on Tuesday—triggered by a Chinese media report linking dozens of AstraZeneca executives to a health insurance fraud investigation—the company held a conference call on Wednesday, led by Chief Financial Officer Aradhana Sarin.
During the call, AstraZeneca clarified that the recent media report may have confused the current investigation with earlier insurance fraud convictions involving the company’s sales representatives. These convictions were related to insurance fraud for AstraZeneca’s lung cancer drug, Tagrisso.
Between 2020 and 2021, approximately 100 AstraZeneca sales representatives in China were convicted of insurance fraud after allegedly falsifying patient genetic test results to qualify for government insurance coverage for Tagrisso. AstraZeneca provided a statement to investors clarifying these prior incidents.
The company also announced that Michael Lai, AstraZeneca’s Managing Director appointed in China in 2019, will manage China operations during Wang’s absence.
Shares dropped an additional 1.9%, closing at 9,919p in London trading on Wednesday.
