(Yicai) March 4 -- Shares of Lepu Biopharma dropped after the Chinese biopharmaceutical firm said it had to resubmit its application to sell a new nasopharyngeal carcinoma treatment in China amid the country's drug regulator having not yet approved its first filing.

Lepu [HKG: 2157] fell 6.52 percent to HKD3.3 (42 US cents) a share in Hong Kong today, after earlier plunging by as much as 16.4 percent.

Lepu voluntarily withdrew its previous marketing application for MRG003 to supplement and submit relevant materials, the Shanghai-based company announced today.

The National Medical Products Administration announced on its website yesterday that MRG003 has not yet been approved for sale in China.

MRG003 is a new antibody-drug conjugate to treat recurrent or metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma, or nasopharynx cancer. China has a high incidence of the disease, accounting for around half of the global cases, with around 60,000 new cases reported a year.

If the new application is approved, MRG003 will be Lepu's second drug to hit the market.

Editor: Martin Kadiev