Five Employees of AstraZeneca Arrested in China, Stock Price Plummets 5%—Data Privacy Violations and Illegal Drug Imports Shock Market!

Five current and former employees of British pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca, all Chinese nationals, have been taken legal action by Chinese law enforcement authorities for allegedly violating Chinese data privacy regulations and illegally importing cancer drugs, foreign media reported. Astrazeneca confirmed in a statement late Thursday that some of its employees were under investigation by Chinese police, but gave no further information.

"We can confirm that some of our employees in China are currently under investigation by the relevant authorities and that is all we can provide at this time," an Astrazeneca spokesperson told Financial Media via email. At the same time, the spokesperson stressed that the company takes data protection and legal compliance seriously and will fully cooperate with the investigation.

The news, first revealed by Bloomberg, noted that the five employees all worked in Astrazeneca's oncology division and that the investigation involved data collection and illegal drug imports.

The incident caused Astrazeneca shares to move significantly after the market opened on Thursday, falling more than 5% at one point before paring losses. By afternoon trading, Astrazeneca shares were still trading below their opening price.

It is worth noting that Astrazeneca has an important position in the Chinese market, and its novel coronavirus vaccine has been widely used around the world. The incident has undoubtedly brought uncertainty to the company's reputation and business development in China.

Police in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen are actively investigating the case, but have yet to release specific findings. Multiple media outlets, including CNBC, have tried to contact a Shenzhen police spokesperson for details, but have yet to receive a response. Astrazeneca said it would monitor the situation closely and update the public in due course.