Threshold's cancer drug gets FDA orphan status, shares rise Fri Mar 30, 2012 8:11am EDT (Reuters) - Threshold Pharmaceutical Inc's experimental cancer drug received orphan status from U.S. health regulators, sending the biotechnology company's stock up as much as 6 percent in premarket trade. The orphan status, which is granted in the United States to drugs that treat diseases affecting fewer than 200,000 people, can provide a seven-year marketing exclusivity for the drug from the date of approval. The experimental drug, which was licensed to a unit of Germany's Merck KGaA in February, had received orphan status from European health regulators early this month. South San Francisco, California-based Threshold is currently testing its drug, TH-302, along with a commonly used chemotherapeutic agent, doxorubicin, in a late-stage trial to treat soft tissue sarcoma. "The results of our Phase 2 study (TH-CR-403) in soft tissue sarcoma are certainly supportive of a pivotal trial underway in this difficult to treat cancer," Threshold Chief Executive Barry Selick said. The American Cancer Society estimates that about 11,280 people will be diagnosed with a soft tissue sarcoma in the United States in 2012, and about 3,900 people will die from the disease, the company said. Reporting by Kavyanjali Kaushik in Bangalore; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier