The allegations are said to be related to the importation of medicines and data privacy violations. According to Bloomberg, employees are alleged to have smuggled cancer treatments such as Imjudo to China.

The arrests are believed to be independent of an ongoing medical fraud investigation that has so far resulted in the About 100 former Chinese employees sentenced.

The health insurance investigation concerns claims that genetic tests were altered so that some patients could be eligible for insurance coverage to receive Tagrisso, a lung cancer treatment.

AstraZeneca has focused on increasing its sales in China for years, and Wang is credited with expanding the business since he joined in 2013. Last year, the China division accounted for 13 percent of its revenue and AstraZeneca has become into one of the largest foreign drug manufacturers in the world. country.

The update on the China investigation came alongside quarterly results. AstraZeneca announced a 19 per cent rise in total revenue to $39.2bn (£30.6bn) for the first nine months of the year.

However, AstraZeneca’s legal problems have overshadowed its strong performance, and shares have fallen 10 percent over the past week.