(Yicai) April 30 -- AstraZeneca, the UK-Swedish pharmaceutical giant being investigated by Chinese regulators, said it could face another fine in China of as much as USD8 million for suspected unpaid import taxes.

The potential new fine would likely relate to imports of Enhertu, AstraZeneca’s breast cancer treatment, the Cambridge-based firm said in its first-quarter earnings report released yesterday. 

AstraZeneca previously announced on Feb. 7 that it had received a Notice of Transfer to the Prosecutor and an Appraisal Opinion from the Shenzhen City Customs Office regarding suspected unpaid import taxes of USD900,000 in January, with the firm facing a fine of up to USD4.5 million. The import taxes relate to two other cancer drugs, Imfinzi and Imjudo, it added.

Last October, Leon Wang, former China president at AstraZeneca, was detained by Chinese authorities for investigation in relation to a suspected medical insurance fraud committed by former employees. In November, the company said several other current and former executives were also under investigation on suspicion of illegally shipping drugs from Hong Kong to the Chinese mainland.

AstraZeneca had first-quarter revenue of USD13.6 billion, falling short of analysts' expectations of USD13.8 billion. This was mainly due to lower-than-expected oncological drug sales, partly because of changes in medical drug price negotiations in the United States, according to analysts.

The impact of the US government's so-called reciprocal tariffs would be something AstraZeneca could absorb, Chief Executive Pascal Soriot said on the firm’s earnings conference call.

“If tariffs were implemented in the range we have seen recently in other industries on medicines imported from Europe to the US, we would remain within the guidance range we indicated for 2025,” he said. “It's really something that we are going to manage.”

Only minor volumes of drugs made in the US are exported to China, he said, adding that the Chinese market accounted for about 12 percent of AstraZeneca's sales as of the end of last year, while the US made up 43 percent.

On March 21, AstraZeneca announced a five-year investment plan worth as much as USD2.5 billion to set up its sixth global strategic research and development center in Beijing to further enhance the drugmaker’s innovation ability in China. 

That “investment reflects our belief in the world-class life sciences ecosystem in Beijing, the extensive opportunities that exist for collaboration and access to talent, and our continued commitment to China," Soriot pointed out.

AstraZeneca has another R&D center in China. Inaugurated in Shanghai in October 2021, it aims to advance the research, development, and clinical trials of new medicines worldwide.

Editor: Martin Kadiev