AstraZeneca staff detained in China amid claims of illegal drug imports

Five AstraZeneca staff have been detained in China amid claims of potential illegal activity at the British drug giant.

Authorities in Shenzhen, China, are investigating how the company collected patient data, according to Bloomberg, as well as the imports of a liver cancer drug yet to be approved in China.

A spokesman for AstraZeneca said: “We are aware a small number of our employees in China are under investigation and we have no further information to share at this point.”

It threatens to cast a shadow over AstraZeneca’s Chinese operations. The company is the largest foreign pharmaceutical company in China, making 12pc of its revenues from the country.  As of 2019, it employed 15,000 people in its Chinese operations, out of 90,000 employees worldwide.

Pascal Soriot, the chief executive, has praised China for encouraging innovation. He said businesses in the country were creating “first-in-class products or new technologies that are going to shape the future of medicine”.

Speaking in April 2023, Mr Soriot said AstraZeneca was investing heavily in China as there was a “huge opportunity for companies to help patients and to grow, but also a huge opportunity to tap into innovation”.

AstraZeneca has been looking for takeover opportunities in the country and bought a cancer therapy firm for up to $1.2bn (£950m) last year.

The expansion of its Chinese operations has put AstraZeneca at odds with other companies which have been more cautious over the risk of being subject to government investigations.

Employees from organisations, including US due diligence company Mintz Group and advertising company WPP, have been detained in recent years. WPP sacked the senior Chinese executive who was detained on suspicion of bribery, while Mintz Group battled to secure its employees’ release last year.

AstraZeneca has not been immune from government scrutiny. In 2022, it faced claims of tampering with gene-testing results by Chinese authorities. The business said at the time that it had taken disciplinary action against some of its employees.

Beijing has been stepping up its crackdown on data security and personal information, requiring businesses to keep information within China. It has also been curbing drug smuggling attempts in the country, following delays to approval of new therapies.