(Yicai Global) May 6 -- Shares in Wuxi Apptec, China's largest new drug contract research organization, slumped this morning after it unveiled that several pre-listing investors plan to sell their stock in the firm.

The Shanghai-based firm's stock [SHA:603259] was down 6.87 percent at CNY82.44 (USD12.24) as of 11.21 a.m. local time, showing some signs of recovery  after opening at the 10 percent down limit.

Seven pre-initial public offering investors plan to sell part of their holdings in the drugmaker between May 29 and Aug. 10, Wuxi Apptec said in a statement on April 30, China's last trading day before the extended Labor Day break. If the plan is executed in full, almost 11.9 percent of the firm's shares will swap hands.

The move comes as the post-IPO exchange-enforced restriction on sales expires, just one year after the company went public in its hometown. It listed in May 2018 at CNY21.6 a share and surged as high as CNY139 before settling around CNY90 as of late.

Editor: James Boynton