(Yicai) April 30 -- AstraZeneca, the UK-Swedish pharmaceutical giant caught in a regulatory storm in China since last year, said it could face another fine of up to USD8 million in the Asian country over suspected unpaid drug import taxes.

The new possible fine is due to suspected unpaid taxes related to imports of breast cancer treatment Enhertu, AstraZeneca said in its first-quarter earnings report released yesterday. 

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

Last October, Leon Wang, former China president of AstraZeneca, was detained by Chinese authorities for investigation on a large-scale medical insurance fraud committed by former employees, sparking a regulatory storm. The company revealed that several other current and former executives were also under investigation for illegally shipping drugs from Hong Kong to the Chinese mainland in November.

AstraZeneca logged 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, analysts pointed out.

The impact of the US government's so-called reciprocal tariffs would be something AstraZeneca could absorb, said Chief Executive Pascal Soriot. "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 added.

"It's really something that we are going to manage," Soriot noted. 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 up to USD2.5 billion to set up its sixth global strategic research and development center in Beijing to further enhance its innovation ability in China.

"This USD2.5 billion 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 October 2021 in Shanghai, it aims to advance the research, development, and clinical trials of new medicines worldwide.

Editor: Martin Kadiev