(Yicai) Dec. 5 -- UK-Swedish pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca appointed a new international executive vice president just over a month after its China president and former international EVP began cooperating in an investigation by Chinese authorities.

Iskra Reic has succeeded Leon Wang as international EVP and will be responsible for "overall strategy and driving sustainable growth across China, Asian and Eurasian markets, Middle East and Africa, Latin America, Australia and New Zealand," AstraZeneca announced late yesterday. Reic will likely be sent to Shanghai to supervise the firm's Chinese business.

Reic joined AstraZeneca in 2001, holding several leadership posts, including being appointed EVP for Europe and Canada in April 2017 and EVP of the Vaccines & Immune Therapies in 2021, where she was responsible for the early and late-stage development of the unit's pipeline and portfolio, including Covid-19 and respiratory syncytial virus vaccines.

Information regarding why Wang was put under investigation and the probe's progress is still quite limited. Yicai tried to contact him several times but did not get a reply. Wang's profile on AstraZeneca's leadership page was still available as of early today, with the firm defining his status as on 'extended leave.'

The likelihood of Wang returning to AstraZeneca is slim after the new appointment, a pharmaceutical investor told Yicai. Reic faces a big challenge with taking AstraZeneca China out of its current difficulties, the person pointed out.

In 2017, AstraZeneca's Chief Executive Officer Pascal Soriot promoted Wang and Reic to EVPs, an insider told Yicai. The two were equal in rank and reported to the CEO, so Reic's succession of Wang was a lateral move, the insider noted.

Reic took part in AstraZeneca's vaccine tie-up project with Shenzhen-based Kangtai Biological Products, though she lacked the experience to work in the Chinese market for long, the insider said. Trained as a doctor of dental medicine at the Medical University of Zagreb, she was appointed general manager of AstraZeneca Russia in 2014, the person added.

AstraZeneca's Chinese business is undergoing a major test, as it is under probe for insurance fraud. Hundreds of employees and several executives, including Wang, are being investigated.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Martin Kadiev