Dec 12 Reuters The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Mirati Therapeutics Inc39;s lung cancer drug adagrasib, the company said on Monday, sending its shares up more than 8 in extended trading.

Mirati39;s drug has been approved for treating adult patients with advanced lung cancer as determined by an FDAapproved test, who have received at least one prior systemic therapy.

Adagrasib, an oral drug, is designed to target a mutated form of a gene known as KRAS that occurs in about 13 of nonsmall cell lung cancers NSCLC, the most common form of the disease, and less frequently in some other solid tumors.

Mirati said the drug will be sold under the brand name Krazati at a price of 19,750 for a 200 milligram tablet180 count bottle.

Another KRAS inhibitor, Amgen Inc39;s Lumakras, is already available to treat patients suffering from advanced lung cancer as a secondline therapy, after an initial therapy fails or stops working.

Thirdquarter sales of Lumakras, which was approved last year, totaled 75 million.

Mirati Chief Executive David Meek said in a recent interview that the drug is a compelling choice.

I think physicians and patients are going to appreciate having an effective option, he told Reuters, noting that 43 of secondline trial patients responded to adagrasib.

Shares of Mirati have fallen about 55 since early this month, after the company39;s presentation of early data from studies of adagrasib in combination with Merck Co39;s immunotherapy Keytruda as…