AstraZeneca in talks with authorities as China chief detained

AstraZeneca is in crisis talks with Chinese authorities following the arrest of its boss in the country.

The pharmaceutical giant confirmed this week the arrest of Leon Wang, director of its Chinese business.

And, in a separate case, around 100 former AstraZeneca employees have been convicted in connection with a fraud investigation.

Shares in the FTSE 100-listed drugmaker fell another 2 per cent to 9,725 pence yesterday, taking the week’s losses to 11.8 per cent as the scandal deepens. The fall has wiped £20.1bn off Astra-Zeneca’s stock market value.

The Mail understands that senior AstraZeneca executives in the country are in talks with the authorities to find a solution to the crisis.

A city source said: “They are in a bind over this.”

China is a big market for AstraZeneca, accounting for 13 percent of sales. The crisis is a setback for CEO Pascal

Soriot, who has identified the expansion of the world’s second largest economy as a key part of his strategy.

Wang is detained in Shenzhen, southeast China, Astra-Zeneca confirmed. It is unclear why Wang, who grew up in China and has worked for the company for more than a decade, has been arrested.

The Financial Times said it was linked to the alleged illegal import and sale of the cancer drug Imjudo. Two current executives and two former executives in China are also under investigation.

Wang’s arrest is understood to be unrelated to an ongoing investigation into health insurance fraud, launched in 2021, in which 100 former employees have been sentenced. That case alleges they falsified medical tests to qualify patients for reimbursement for the lung cancer drug Tagrisso.

AstraZeneca CFO Aradhana Sarin held a call with City analysts on Tuesday to try to stem the stock sell-off. Deutsche Bank analyst Emmanuel Papadakis said this would “do little to calm concerns about the potential implications of the investigation.”

But Barclays analyst Emily Field said the price drop was “a dramatic overreaction” based on available information.

Investors will be looking for more details about the arrest when the company reports its third-quarter results next week.

An AstraZeneca spokesperson said: “We do not comment on speculative media reports. If requested, we will fully cooperate with Chinese authorities. We continue to deliver life-changing medicines to patients in China and operations are ongoing.”