By Colin Kellaher

Shares of NeuroMetrix Inc. rose sharply in premarket trading Tuesday after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted breakthrough-device designation to the company's Quell technology for the treatment of a complication of chemotherapy.

The Woburn, Mass., maker of medical devices said the designation covers use of the wearable neuromodulator for reducing moderate to severe symptoms of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy that have persisted for at least six months after the end of chemotherapy.

The FDA's breakthrough-devices program aims to expedite the development and review of technology that offers significant advantages over existing approved products.

NeuroMetrix said it expects an ongoing study of the Quell device in chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy to be completed by the end of the year.

NeuroMetrix shares, which closed Friday at $4.92, were recently up 18.1% to $5.81 in premarket trading.

Write to Colin Kellaher at colin.kellaher@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 18, 2022 09:34 ET (14:34 GMT)