FDA rejects HLB’s rivoceranib liver cancer drug

Shares of HLB Pharma (Kosdaq: 028300) plunged almost 30% to 67,100 won on Friday to their daily price floors, as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rejected a new drug approval for rivoceranib, the Korean firm’s liver cancer treatment, according to a Korea Times report.

HLB chairman Jin Yang-gon said on his company’s official YouTube channel on Friday morning that he received a complete response letter (CRL) from the FDA that day, regarding the combination therapy of rivoceranib and camrelizumab, an anticancer drug made by Jiangsu Hengrui, HLB’s Chinese partner.

After the live streaming, investors of HLB affiliates, who anticipated a US approval, dumped nearly 5 trillion won ($3.7 billion) worth of the biotech company's shares, indicating their disappointment at the decision, the newspaper noted.