On October 30, information on AstraZeneca China’s official website showed that Mr. Wang Lei, AstraZeneca’s global executive vice president, international business chairman and China president, was cooperating with the investigation in China. AstraZeneca China is operating normall

Source: AstraZeneca official website

On October 30, AstraZeneca China official website information showed that Mr. Wang Lei, AstraZeneca’s global executive vice president, international business chairman and China president, is cooperating with the investigation in China. AstraZeneca China is operating normally under the leadership of the current general manager. AstraZeneca will cooperate fully with the investigation if requested.

Since the "insurance fraud case", AstraZeneca has still been in trouble. According to previous reports from Nandu Bay Financial Society, on October 25, Yin Min, chief commercial officer of BeiGene Greater China, announced that he was under investigation. He was directly involved in "fraudulent insurance" for lung cancer in the Oncology Division in charge of AstraZeneca. The medicine Tagrisso. Also on October 25, four executives of Rayon Gene were announced to be under criminal detention. AstraZeneca is an important customer of Rayon Gene, and deputy general manager Xue Yuwei also worked for AstraZeneca.

From tour guide to president of a multinational pharmaceutical giant in China

Wang Lei is quite legendary in the pharmaceutical circle. Public information shows that Wang Lei had just graduated from university and worked as a tour guide for three years. He "visited Huangshan more than a dozen times a year" and "may have met thousands of different people a year."

Later, without any professional background in medicine, Wang Lei switched to medicine and entered AstraZeneca China in 2013, achieving "four consecutive promotions to four levels".

Initially served as Vice President of Digestion, Respiratory and Anesthesia Business Unit, Wang Lei was promoted to President of AstraZeneca China, promoting diversified cross-field cooperation. During this period, AstraZeneca China achieved nearly 20% of its business for two consecutive years from 2014 to 2015. growth, becoming one of the fastest growing multinational pharmaceutical companies in China.

At that time, the industry evaluated him as "one of the very few local talents to enter the global management of a multinational pharmaceutical company, setting a new record for the highest position of local talents in a multinational pharmaceutical company."

According to The Paper, Wang Lei himself originally planned to attend a large domestic exhibition next month and be interviewed. At 6:53 a.m. on October 29, Wang Lei also posted a message on Moments.

According to Jiemian News, after Wang Lei was investigated, Lai Minglong, AstraZeneca's global senior vice president, general manager of AstraZeneca China, and general manager of oncology business, issued a "Letter to All AstraZeneca Chinese Employees" within the company. , saying that the company is operating normally. AstraZeneca has been deeply involved in China for more than 30 years. It is a beneficiary and participant in the development of the country and the Chinese pharmaceutical industry, and is part of China's strength that benefits patients.

Lai Minglong said that AstraZeneca "will always adhere to the original intention of loving patients. I hope everyone will do their job well as always, and the company management team and I will give everyone our full support."

Involved in the "Insurance Fraud Case", AstraZeneca Many employees have been investigated

Since the "insurance fraud case" was exposed, AstraZeneca has been in constant trouble in recent years.

On January 29, 2022, the National Medical Insurance Bureau reported that in July 2021, the Shenzhen Medical Insurance Bureau based on the reporting clues found that AstraZeneca staff were suspected of tampering with the genetic test results of tumor patients to defraud insurance. The National Medical Insurance Administration urged Shenzhen to set up a joint task force composed of medical insurance, public security, health, market supervision and other departments to conduct an in-depth investigation of the case.

Since then, the task force has cracked the case and eliminated a fraud gang suspected of tampering with the genetic test results of tumor patients to defraud medical insurance funds. 17 people involved were arrested and all criminal enforcement measures were taken in accordance with the law.

However, the "AstraZeneca insurance fraud case" has not come to an end. In the past three years, the insurance fraud incident has become more and more serious.

In June 2023, Chen Bin, the director of AstraZeneca's Eastern Region, was also taken away by the police in Lijiang, Yunnan because he was suspected of participating in the insurance fraud case, and faced more than a year of detention and severe punishment recommendations.

In July 2024, many AstraZeneca executives were taken away while attending the Changbaishan Cancer Summit, and more than 50 employees of the Hepatobiliary Division were also taken away to assist in the investigation. According to reports, the core of the investigation is the illegal smuggling of CTLA4 drugs.

Just a few days ago, the case seemed to be making intensive progress.

According to previous reports from Nandu Wancaishe, on October 25, BeiGene (688235.sh), the leading domestic innovative drug company, stated on its WeChat public account that an employee of the company was cooperating with relevant investigations. The incident involving the employee was related to BeiGene has nothing to do with it.

According to industry sources, the employee who was taken away for investigation is Yin Min, chief commercial officer of BeiGene Greater China. From 2006 to 2021, Yin Min worked for AstraZeneca, and the oncology division he was responsible for was directly involved in the "defrauded" lung cancer drug Tagrisso.

Also on October 25, Ruian Gene (688217.sh), the “leading tumor detection company”, also announced that the company’s actual controller, chairman and general manager, and core technical staff Xiong Hui, the actual controller, director and vice president The compulsory measures taken against Manager Xiong Jun, Deputy General Manager He Junyan, and Deputy General Manager Xue Yuwei were all converted into criminal detention, and the alleged charges were changed from the crime of illegal business operations to the crime of fraud.

It is worth noting that AstraZeneca has been an important customer of Rayon Gene for a long time. At the same time, Xue Yuwei, deputy general manager of Rayon Gene, once worked for AstraZeneca China (Investment) Co., Ltd.

In response to outside speculation that the detention of senior executives of Rayon Gene is related to the "AstraZeneca insurance fraud case", the person in charge of Rayon Gene told a reporter from Nandu Bay Financial News that the company does not yet know the specific situation. Based on the police's investigation results, allow.

AstraZeneca’s U.S. stocks once fell by more than 5%

Public information shows that AstraZeneca is a global innovative drug giant, headquartered in London, England, with operations in more than 100 countries around the world. Its extensive product portfolio covers all types of prescription drugs, including the treatment of heart disease. Vascular, respiratory, tumor, neurological and gastrointestinal diseases, etc.

Despite the “insurance fraud” scandal, AstraZeneca’s revenue in China is still considerable. According to AstraZeneca's financial report, total revenue for 2023 will be US$45.811 billion, of which product revenue will be US$43.789 billion, a year-on-year increase of 2%. After excluding COVID-19 products, total revenue was US$45.488 billion, a year-on-year increase of 13%. In terms of regional distribution, the US market's annual revenue was US$19.077 billion, a year-on-year increase of 6%; emerging markets were US$12.025 billion, a year-on-year increase of 2%. Among them, China contributed US$5.876 billion, accounting for 13% of AstraZeneca’s global market share.

According to AstraZeneca's performance report, in the first half of 2024, AstraZeneca's total revenue was US$25.617 billion, a year-on-year increase of 18%, mainly due to the growth in product sales and the continued growth in alliance revenue brought by cooperative drugs. In the second quarter, AstraZeneca’s total revenue was US$12.938 billion, of which China contributed US$1.630 billion, accounting for 13%.

On October 30, local time, AstraZeneca’s U.S. stocks opened lower and moved lower, falling more than 5% at one time. As of the close, it closed at US$72.83 per share, down 3.18%, with a market value of approximately US$225.8 billion.

Reported by Nandu·Wancaishe reporter Liu Changyuan