Cover Story: How AstraZeneca’s China Fraud Was About More Than Greed

The British pharmaceutical giant falsified patient test results so insurance would pay for its cancer drug in an effort to boost sales, but the alleged misconduct ended up benefiting some patients

AstraZeneca Plc is facing a setback in China as a three-year crackdown on alleged medical insurance fraud intensifies, culminating in an investigation into Leon Wang, the company’s president for the country.

On Oct. 30, AstraZeneca confirmed that Wang was “cooperating with an ongoing investigation.” While the company did not give details, it said it would “fully cooperate” with the authorities.

Just days before, media reports emerged that Eva Yin, a former general manager of AstraZeneca’s oncology unit in China and current chief commercial officer of BeiGene Greater China, had been held by Chinese regulatory authorities.

Industry insiders said the probe into Yin, who worked at AstraZeneca from 2006 to 2021 under Wang, may be related to the latter’s insurance fraud cases.

The London-based drugmaker, which entered China in 1993 and currently employs about 20,000 people in the country, has been ensnared in several scandals in recent years. Dozens of its current and former executives, regional sales heads and pharmaceutical representatives have been investigated, with court files showing that millions of yuan could be involved in the fraud case.

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