AstraZeneca has appointed a new head of its China business, after her predecessor Leon Wang was detained by authorities in the country as part of a crackdown on the healthcare sector. Iskra Reic will take over from Wang to lead the drugmaker’s business in the country and will be based at the company’s research and development centre in Shanghai, the company said on Wednesday. The UK-listed group added that Wang was on “extended leave” while under investigation in China.
He was a well-known figure in the industry in China, with deep knowledge and contacts. Reic, a Croatian national whose job title will be “executive vice-president, international”, has worked mainly in Europe and Russia. She has no previous experience in China. She has been at the company since 2001, most recently launching the company’s vaccines and immune therapies unit, after it developed a Covid-19 shot with the University of Oxford during the pandemic.