Biotech firm BioCancell Therapeutics Ltd. (TASE:BICL), which is developing drugs to fight cancer, said that its flagship drug BC-819 was granted orphan drug status for use against ovarian cancer.
The designation means that if its drug reaches the market and will be the first drug to register for this usage, it will receive 7 years of protection from competition. After the seven year period, competitors can only begin the registration process, which means the marketing protection can last about nine years, unless a greatly improved version comes out.
Orphan drug status is given by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treatments for diseases that affect 200,000 or fewer people in the US.
Biocancell shares rose 10.5%, after being up about 12% earlier in the day.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on August 24, 2009
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