COPENHAGEN, Sept 16 (Reuters) - Shares in Danish biotechfirm Genmab jumped 8.5 percent at open on Monday afterthe company said late on Friday the United States Food and DrugAdministration (FDA) had granted its leukaemia drug"Breakthrough Therapy Designation".
Breakthrough Therapy Designation is an FDA program aimed ataccelerating the development and review times of drugs forserious or life-threatening conditions.
The drug, Arzerra (also known as Ofatumumab), was grantedthe status in combination with another agent (chlorambucil) forthe treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL).
Arzerra is being developed under a co-development andcommercialization agreement between Genmab and Britain'sGlaxoSmithKline Plc.
Genmab's shares traded up 6.89 percent at 0710 GMT, againsta 0.7 percent rise in the Copenhagen stock exchange's benchmarkindex. (Reporting by Copenhagen Newsroom; editing by Keiron Henderson)
Glaxosmithkline (GSK)