2024.10.31

Wang Lei led AstraZeneca China to achieve nearly % business growth for two consecutive years, making AstraZeneca China the fastest-growing multinational pharmaceutical company in China and the unchallenged "sales champion" for many years.

On the date, a China Health and Medical Summit was held at the St. Regis Hotel in Shanghai. In addition to discussing business, attendees were buzzing about the shocking news in the Chinese medical community the previous night – the investigation involving Lei Wang, President of AstraZeneca China.

Wang Lei is often referred to as a legend in the Chinese pharmaceutical circle. He always wears a pair of black-rimmed glasses and a collarless suit, sometimes preferring to drape the suit over his shoulders when speaking on stage. In the industry, Wang Lei's legendary status is primarily reflected in his business acumen and extensive network of relationships. He once led AstraZeneca China to achieve nearly % business growth for two consecutive years, making AstraZeneca China the fastest-growing multinational pharmaceutical company in China and the undisputed "sales champion" for many years.

In the eyes of the industry, Wang Lei was still sharing moments on WeChat on the day before AstraZeneca announced that Wang Lei was cooperating with the investigation. However, on that day, no one could reach Wang Lei. An industry insider who attended a medical summit at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel told the First Financial Daily that he had met Wang Lei several times, although they did not have in-depth conversations, Wang Lei left him with the first impression of being "approachable." "If you didn't know him, you would never imagine that he runs a large enterprise with hundreds of billions in business."

Wang Lei's ancestral home is in Yixing, Jiangsu, which is also a key investment area for AstraZeneca in China. In Wang Lei's circle of friends, he frequently shares his love for his hometown, including the development of the Yixing Economic Development Zone and the Environmental Science Park, and encourages more enterprises to invest in his hometown.

Wang Lei is skilled in dealing with the media and is known for his candidness. This is related to his personality and experiences. Graduating from Shanghai International Studies University, he started his career as a foreign language tour guide. "His excellent English gave him a significant advantage when multinational pharmaceutical companies first entered the Chinese market; he is also a very hardworking individual, achieving outstanding performance at Roche, which later led to his opportunity to be sent to the Basel headquarters, where he obtained the key to the upper echelons of foreign enterprises." In response to some people's doubts about Wang Lei's professionalism, believing that his background as a tour guide lacks pharmaceutical expertise, a person familiar with Wang Lei told First Financial Daily.

From expansion to pressure later, Wang Lei, during his time at Roche, met with now AstraZeneca Global CEO Pascal Soriot. After leaving Roche and joining AstraZeneca, Soriot did not hesitate to bring Wang Lei along. When Soriot joined AstraZeneca, the century-old pharmaceutical company was facing the fate of being "sold off." Soriot refused to sell and made a vow to lead AstraZeneca in revitalizing its performance, while Wang Lei became a "key player" for AstraZeneca in the Chinese market.

In the year, AstraZeneca's China sales approached $10 billion, contributing approximately % of the company's revenue. "In China, it is extremely rare for multinational pharmaceutical companies to achieve a scale of $10 billion, and AstraZeneca is one of the very few," a senior executive of a multinational pharmaceutical company told the First Financial Daily. "Wang Lei's goal is very clear, which is sales performance-oriented. There was a period when AstraZeneca expanded its sales team frantically, but in recent years, with some of its drugs entering the national medical insurance negotiation catalog and the impact of centralized procurement, AstraZeneca's expansion pace has slowed down, and sales growth has also dropped to single digits for the first time."

Taking AstraZeneca's star lung cancer drug Tagrisso as an example, since its launch, the drug's global sales have been steadily rising, especially after it was approved as a first-line therapy, with sales surging dramatically. In 2020, the drug surpassed $1 billion in sales.

Over the past two years, the pressure on AstraZeneca China's revenue has primarily come from the impact of medical insurance negotiations and centralized procurement on drug prices. In its second-quarter earnings report, AstraZeneca stated that the inclusion of three oncology drugs, osimertinib, olaparib, and savolitinib, in the Chinese medical insurance catalog has led to increased demand in China being offset by price reductions. In the first half of last year, AstraZeneca's China performance was briefly surpassed by Merck, and Wang Lei himself felt the pressure, stating, "In China, we are no longer the top multinational pharmaceutical company, and we need to learn from the excellent (companies)."

It is noteworthy that the event involving Wang Lei's cooperation with the investigation occurred before the CIIE, and it is currently unclear whether Wang Lei will still attend the CIIE in person as planned. During the CIIE, Wang Lei had accompanied Pascal Soriot at the AstraZeneca CIIE site. The First Financial Journalist sent another message to Wang Lei on the 10th inquiring about the arrangements for this year's CIIE, but as of the evening of the same day, no response had been received.