(Reuters) -AstraZeneca on Tuesday said it may face a fine of up to $8 million over suspected unpaid import taxes in China as the drugmaker works to boost business in its second-biggest market after scandals including the arrest of its China president last year.
Despite boasting a strong pipeline, AstraZeneca is contending with headwinds in its two biggest markets, the United States and China: scandals in China, possible U.S. tariffs on pharmaceutical products, and a trade war between Beijing and Washington.
AstraZeneca said it had received an opinion from authorities in Shenzen city that the suspected unpaid amount was about $1.6 million and a fine of one to five times that may be levied if it was found liable.
The company said “to the best of AstraZeneca’s knowledge” the importation taxes referred to in opinion related to its breast cancer drug Enhertu.
AstraZeneca reported core profit of $2.49 for the three months ended March 31, beating analysts’ expectations, but total revenue of $13.59 billion missed estimates.
In February, it said it could face a fine of up to $4.5 million in China over suspected unpaid import taxes, related to cancer drugs Imfinzi and Imjudo, adding that the probe could possibly extend to include Enhertu.
The company on Tuesday also said that it was informed by authorities that they had not found any “illegal gain” to AstraZeneca from personal information infringement in a separate allegation.
(Reporting by Pushkala Aripaka in Bengaluru and Maggie Fick in London; Editing by Sonia Cheema)
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