By Chris Wack

XOMA Corp. said its NIS793 in combination with standard of care chemotherapy has been granted Orphan Drug Designation in pancreatic cancer by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The company said NIS793 is a potential first in class novel antibody specific for transforming growth factor beta.

An Orphan Drug Designation grants special status to a drug that treats a rare disease or condition and provides companies certain benefits to encourage the continued development of medicines that bring novel solutions to patients with these severe diseases.

Under the terms of a 2015 agreement between XOMA and Novartis AG, XOMA has the potential to earn up to $445 million in additional milestone payments. Upon receipt of regulatory approval to commercialize NIS793, XOMA will receive tiered royalties on any net product sales that range from the mid-single digits to the low double digits.

XOMA shares were up 15% to $38.50 in premarket trading.

Write to Chris Wack at chris.wack@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

07-28-21 0942ET