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AstraZeneca: China's Investigation into Exec Separate from Medical Insurance Probe

The AstraZeneca logo is pictured outside the AstraZeneca office building in Brussels, Belgium, January 28, 2021. REUTERS/Johanna Geron/File Photo
The AstraZeneca logo is pictured outside the AstraZeneca office building in Brussels, Belgium, January 28, 2021. REUTERS/Johanna Geron/File Photo
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AstraZeneca: China's Investigation into Exec Separate from Medical Insurance Probe

The AstraZeneca logo is pictured outside the AstraZeneca office building in Brussels, Belgium, January 28, 2021. REUTERS/Johanna Geron/File Photo
The AstraZeneca logo is pictured outside the AstraZeneca office building in Brussels, Belgium, January 28, 2021. REUTERS/Johanna Geron/File Photo

AstraZeneca said on Wednesday that to its knowledge an ongoing investigation by Chinese authorities into the company's top executive in the country, Leon Wang, is separate from a large health insurance fraud case also involving the company.

The drugmaker said its Chief Financial Officer Aradhana Sarin had briefed investors on the subject on Wednesday to quell concerns about the fraud probe expanding following a report by financial media company Yicai a day earlier that led its shares to plunge more than 8%.

The Anglo-Swedish drugmaker confirmed on Wednesday that Wang, its China president, was in Chinese custody. One week ago, AstraZeneca said that Wang was under investigation and that the drugmaker would cooperate with authorities, according to Reuters.

AstraZeneca said on Wednesday it did not know what Wang was detained for.

The Yicai report on Tuesday said that dozens of the drugmaker's senior executives in China could be implicated in the largest insurance fraud case in the country's pharma sector in years. But AstraZeneca said on Wednesday that to its knowledge the insurance fraud case did not involve any current AstraZeneca executives.

AstraZeneca has invested heavily in the world's No. 2 pharmaceuticals market.

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Rare Pudu Birth in Argentina Sparks Conservation Hopes for Tiny Enigmatic Deer

A rare pudu fawn named Lenga, born earlier this month, is seen at the Temaiken Foundation, in Buenos Aires, Argentina November 22, 2024. (Reuters)
A rare pudu fawn named Lenga, born earlier this month, is seen at the Temaiken Foundation, in Buenos Aires, Argentina November 22, 2024. (Reuters)
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Rare Pudu Birth in Argentina Sparks Conservation Hopes for Tiny Enigmatic Deer

A rare pudu fawn named Lenga, born earlier this month, is seen at the Temaiken Foundation, in Buenos Aires, Argentina November 22, 2024. (Reuters)
A rare pudu fawn named Lenga, born earlier this month, is seen at the Temaiken Foundation, in Buenos Aires, Argentina November 22, 2024. (Reuters)

A rare pudu fawn was born in a biopark in Argentina earlier this month, giving scientists and conservationists a unique chance to study and collect data on the tiny enigmatic deer.

Weighing just 1.21 kg (2.7 lbs), the delicate, fragile and white-spotted male pudu fawn was named Lenga after a tree species endemic to the Andean Patagonian forest of Chile and Argentina.

"It's a very enigmatic animal, it's not easy to see," said Maximiliano Krause, Lenga's caretaker at the Temaiken Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to conserving wild species.

Pudus are one of the smallest deer species in the world, growing up to 50-cm (20-inches) tall and weighing up to 12 kg (26.5 lbs).

At just a fraction of that weight, Krause says Lenga is spending his days exploring the park with his mother Chalten and father Nicolino. Lenga is breastfeeding for the first two months until he can handle a herbivorous diet.

After that, Lenga will lose his white spots that help fawns camouflage themselves in their environment. Krause says the mottled color helps the tiny baby deer hide from both daytime and nighttime predators. At about one year, pudus develop antlers and reach up to 10 cm (4 inches).

Pudus are very elusive animals and flee in zig-zags when chased by predators. The tiny deer also face threats from wild dogs and species introduced into southern Argentina and Chile. Only about 10,000 pudus remain and are classified as near-threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

"This pudu birth is obviously a joy for us," said Cristian Guillet, director of zoological operations at the Temaiken Foundation.

Guillet said that Lenga will help them research and gather data that will help conservation efforts for pudus and other Patagonian deer, like the huemul.

"(This) offers hope of saving them from extinction," Guillet said.