AstraZeneca shares fall on report of potential China probe fallout

AstraZeneca shares connected Tuesday recorded their worst time since March 2020 aft a study that dozens of the drugmaker's elder executives successful China could beryllium implicated successful the largest security fraud lawsuit successful the country's pharma assemblage successful years.

The Anglo-Swedish company, which has invested heavy successful the world's No. 2 pharmaceuticals market, said last week that its China president, Leon Wang, was nether probe and that the drugmaker would cooperate with authorities.

AstraZeneca had not said what the probe was astir oregon whether Wang, who grew up successful China and has been with the institution for much than a decade, had been detained by authorities.

The probe by Chinese authorities has present expanded to see the nationalist information bureau, supervisory committee and different applicable bodies, fiscal media institution Yicai reported connected Tuesday, citing a idiosyncratic acquainted with the matter.

The study added that aesculapian representatives person been antecedently recovered to fake prescriptions for AstraZeneca's lung crab drug, Tagrisso, to let patients to bargain it done the state's aesculapian security program.

"As a substance of policy, we bash not remark connected speculative media reports including those related to ongoing investigations successful China," AstraZeneca said.

"If requested, we volition afloat cooperate with the Chinese authorities," the institution added and said that its operations and transportation of medicines were ongoing successful China.

AstraZeneca is 1 of the biggest multinational drugmakers successful China, which accounts for 13% of its wide revenue. It said past twelvemonth it would physique a $450 cardinal mill successful the state and has besides signed respective licensing deals with Chinese firms.

However, AstraZeneca's much than 30-year beingness successful the state has not been without challenges implicit prescriptions and sales.

In 2022, Chinese authorities had summoned AstraZeneca officials implicit an probe of suspected aesculapian security fraud by its employees, and had ordered that the drugmaker tighten its selling activities.

The FTSE 100 constituent fell arsenic overmuch arsenic 8.4% connected Tuesday to deed a seven-month debased of 10,118 pence and was the second-biggest percent loser connected the blue-chip index.