AstraZeneca says it takes China’s investigation into fraud, illegal drug importation and data collection ‘very seriously’

“We take matters in China very seriously,” Chief Executive Pascal Soriot said in a statement included in the group’s latest earnings release.

“If requested, we will cooperate fully with the authorities. We remain committed to bringing innovative, life-changing medicines to patients in China,” he added.

The group confirmed last week that Leon Wang, president of AstraZeneca China, had been arrested.

China is a key market for AstraZeneca, the developer of a Covid-19 shot that is being widely administered around the world during the coronavirus pandemic.

AstraZeneca noted Tuesday that China accounted for about 12 percent of its global sales in the third quarter. Sales in the country increased by 15 percent in the July-September period.

“The company is aware of numerous individual investigations by Chinese authorities against current and former AstraZeneca employees,” the pharmaceutical giant added in the latest statement.

“To the company’s knowledge, the investigation includes allegations of health insurance fraud, illegal drug importation and personal data breaches.”

AstraZeneca said it had “not received any notification that it itself was under investigation.”

The investigation, led by authorities in the southern city of Shenzhen, involved five current and former employees of the company – all with Chinese citizenship – according to Bloomberg.

An investigation related to the company’s collection of patient data, which authorities suspect may have violated Chinese privacy laws, Financial Newswire also reported, citing people with knowledge of the situation.

According to Bloomberg, another investigation involved the import of a liver cancer drug that was not approved in mainland China.

AstraZeneca, headquartered in the UK, employs 90,000 people worldwide.

Global companies have faced an increasingly difficult business environment in China in recent years, industry groups say, citing a lack of transparency in data laws and prolonged detentions of employees.