(Yicai) Nov. 29 -- UK-Swedish pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca has appointed Chinese-Australian Bob Li as its new global head of medical affairs for oncology.

Li, 42, will lead the global oncology medical affairs team and report directly to David Fredrickson, executive vice president for AstraZeneca’s oncology business unit, the Cambridge-based company announced on Nov. 26.

The Shanghai-born Australian national worked in clinical medicine and as a medical oncologist for more than two decades. He served as VP for global research affairs at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York and co-directed MSK’s multidisciplinary Thoracic Liquid Biopsy Program.

“The future of oncology is not academic cancer centers, but cancer networks,” Li said. “It’s about leveraging collaboration and technology to improve access for the more than 90 percent of patients in diverse global communities who miss out on clinical trials and precision oncology and about advancing global health equity as a sustainable strategy that would improve cancer care for all humanity.”

China is AstraZeneca’s second-largest market after the United States, accounting for about 13 percent of its total sales.

However, the company’s Chinese business is undergoing a major test, as it is under probe for insurance fraud. Hundreds of employees and several executives, including its China President Leon Wang, are being investigated.

Wang is an important link between AstraZeneca’s global and Chinese market, an insider told Yicai. But because of his situation, the company must consider seeking new paths, the insider noted, adding that the appointment of Li may have something to do with it.

Wang still appears on the leadership list on AstraZeneca’s website. “He is responsible for overall strategy driving sustainable growth across the International region, which includes China,” according to Wang’s introduction. “Under his leadership, China has become AstraZeneca’s second-largest market worldwide, and AstraZeneca has become the largest pharmaceutical company in China.”

AstraZeneca has two blockbuster oncology drugs in China, Tagrisso and Enhertu. The latter, which was included in the newest version of China’s national medical insurance drug catalog yesterday, is used in patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor-2-positive breast cancer.

According to the data from the International Agency for Research on Cancer, breast cancer was the second most common cancer among Chinese women after lung cancer in 2022.

Editor: Futura Costaglione