Drug developer Dendreon Corp. said Thursday it submitted two out of three sections of its rolling Food and Drug Administration application for cancer treatment Provenge.


The company said it turned in the clinical and non-clinical sections of its fast-track application, and plans to submit the chemistry, manufacturing and controls section for Provenge to complete the application later this year.

Companies given FDA fast-track status for a drug can submit data to the agency as it becomes available, and get agency feedback on a rolling basis, rather than having to wait and submit it all at once.

Dendreon seeks to get Provenge approved to treat advanced prostate cancer patients whose disease has spread.

Prostate cancer, the most common non-skin cancer in the United States and the third most common worldwide, affects about 1 million men in the U.S. alone with about 232,000 new cases of diagnosed each year.

Shares of Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) were up after UBS increased its target price on the stock to $80 from $73. Shares were up 1.6% to $64.94.

Goldman Sachs upgraded Taro Pharmaceutical (TARO) to neutral from sell, lifting its shares 6.5% to $14.11. Goldman also raised its price target to $14 from $11.

Among other stocks moving were Genzyme (GENZ) , down 1.5% to $65.13, Adams Respiratory Therapeutics (ARXT) , falling 1% to $39.84, and OraLabs Holding (OLAB) , whose shares lost 9.6% to $6.15.

Moving higher were Celgene (CELG) , up 2% to $42.03, Elan (ELN) , adding 2.6% to $15.11, Boston Scientific (BSX) , up 2.3% to $17.16, and Medtronic (MDT) , gaining 2.1% to $46.28.

As a group, stem-cell stocks were up, with Geron (GERN) gaining 5.4% to $6.70, StemCells (STEM) up 2.7% to $2.31, and Viacell (VIAC) higher by 5.3% to $4.01.