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Key Takeaways
- Five current and former AstraZeneca employees have reportedly been detained in China in connection with a pair of investigations.
- The investigations concern the importation of an unapproved liver cancer drug and alleged violations of data privacy laws.
- A Bloomberg report said the employees who worked in AstraZeneca’s oncology department are Chinese citizens.
Five current and former AstraZeneca (AZN) employees have been detained by police in China in connection with alleged violations of data privacy laws and for importing an unapproved cancer drug, according to a Bloomberg report.
The report said five current and former employees of the U.K. pharmaceutical giant’s oncology division have been detained. All are Chinese citizens.
Two AstraZeneca Probes by China in Progress
The current and former employees are reportedly being investigated concerning two probes. The first concerns patient data collection and possible violations of China‘s data privacy laws. The second involves the alleged importation of a liver cancer treatment that hasn’t been approved for distribution in the country.
AstraZeneca reportedly employs roughly 16,000 workers in China and has operated there since 1993.
Shares of the company were down more than 3% Thursday afternoon.