Director of AstraZeneca in China is arrested

British pharmaceutical conglomerate AstraZeneca reported this Thursday (7) that the director of its operations in China, Leon Wang, was arrested amid investigations into data collection and illegal importation of a medicine into the country.

“Leon Wang, president of AstraZeneca China, has been detained,” confirmed an anonymous company source in an email sent to the French agency AFP.

“If requested, we will fully cooperate with Chinese authorities. (…) We continue to supply our life-changing medicines to patients in China and our operations are ongoing,” added the AstraZeneca representative.

Last month, the pharmaceutical giant had already confirmed that the director and other employees were being questioned in China about possible data collection and importation of an illegal medicine into the country.

The investigations involved five current and former company employees – all with Chinese citizenship – and were being led by authorities in the southern city of Shenzhen, Bloomberg reported.

The news source further stated that the Chinese authorities’ investigation was related to the collection of patient data that allegedly violated the country’s privacy laws. A parallel investigation involved the import of a liver cancer drug that had not been approved by authorities in China, according to Bloomberg.