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AstraZeneca chief executive Pascal Soriot said the company took the detention of its China president “very seriously”, as the drugmaker raised its guidance for a second straight quarter on the back of strong sales of cancer medicines.
“We take the matters in China very seriously,” Soriot said as the company reported third-quarter results on Tuesday. “If requested we will fully co-operate with the authorities.”
Soriot’s comments come after the FTSE 100 group confirmed last week that the head of its China business, Leon Wang, had been detained, and that two former and two current executives were under investigation in China over allegations of illegally importing oncology medicines.
A person familiar with the matter said authorities were investigating the alleged importation of AstraZeneca’s cancer drug Imjudo, which has not been approved for sale in China.
The investigations have cast a shadow over AstraZeneca, which is the largest overseas drugmaker in China, making almost $6bn of sales there last year. Its shares have fallen more than 10 per cent since the company first disclosed that Wang was under investigation on October 30.
The company said on Tuesday, alongside the release of its quarterly results, that it now expected “high teens” percentage growth in revenue and earnings per share, up from expected “mid teens”.
The scrutiny of its Chinese business comes after Soriot set an ambitious target this year to almost double global annual sales from $46bn in 2023 to $80bn by 2030.
Since hitting a £200bn market capitalisation for the first time in August, the company’s value has dropped to £155bn.
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