AstraZeneca Summoned by Chinese Regulators over Suspected Medical Insurance Fraud

According to the National Healthcare Security Administration (NHSA), healthcare stock AstraZeneca’s (AZN) China executives have been summoned by China’s Department of Public Security. The summons is related to a probe of suspected medical insurance fraud by the company’s employees.

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Executives of the company have been accused of altering tumor patients’ gene-testing results to fraudulently file for reimbursements from the national healthcare insurance funds.

NHSA, the regulator of the state medical insurance fund, said that Chinese regulators have ordered all suspects to be arrested, but details of violations or the size of funds involved were kept under wraps.

On Friday, AstraZeneca said in a statement that in China’s southern city of Shenzhen, some of the company’s staff were suspected of their involvement in changing patients’ testing results for “allegedly fraudulent claims for reimbursement.” As a result, the company took “serious disciplinary action” against the employees.

Wall Street’s Take

Recently, Deutsche Bank analyst Emmanuel Papadakis reiterated a Buy rating and a price target of 10,500p (21.56% upside potential) on AstraZeneca.

Consensus among analysts is a Strong Buy based on 10 Buys, 1 Hold, and 1 Sell. The average AstraZeneca stock forecast of 9,750p implies 13.07% upside potential from current levels. Shares have gained 22% over the past year.

Smart Score

AstraZeneca scores a 9 of 10 from TipRanks’ Smart Score rating system, indicating that the stock has strong potential to outperform market expectations.

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