Creative Medical Shares Rally Premarket on FDA Orphan Designation

By Colin Kellaher

Shares of Creative Medical Technology Holdings jumped nearly 30% in premarket trading Wednesday after the biotechnology company said it won U.S. Food and Drug Administration orphan-drug designation for its CELZ-101 cell-transplantation therapy.

The Phoenix company said CELZ-101 is aimed at preventing allograft rejection in patients with brittle Type 1 diabetes who are undergoing pancreatic islet cell transplantation.

The FDA's orphan-drug program gives special status to drugs and biologics for diseases and disorders that affect fewer than 200,000 people in the U.S. and provides for an extended marketing exclusivity period against competition.

Creative Medical shares, which closed Tuesday at $4.13, were recently up 29% to $5.31 in premarket trading.

Write to Colin Kellaher at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

03-06-24 0859ET