Shares of Pipex Pharmaceuticals Inc., developer of neurologic and autoimmune diseases treatments, jumped on Monday as it announced it has obtained an orphan drug designation for one of its drugs to cure a deadly pulmonary disease.

Shares of Pipex climbed 27.9 percent to $1.17 on the American Stock Exchange at the close of trading on Monday.

The Orphan Drug designation provides eligibility for a seven-year period of market exclusivity in the United States after product approval.

The company received the designated status for oral tetrathiomolybdate (oral TTM) for the treatment of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF), a pulmonary disease that affects an estimated of 128,000 patients in the U.S. and for which FDA hasn't approved any therapy, according to a company statement.

Pipex said Oral TTM has completed a 12 month open label phase I/II clinical trial and the new orphan designation would provide its potential pharmaceutical partners or acquirers with a 50 percent tax credit for Phase III oral TTM clinical trial expenses.

The designation also provides an accelerated review process, grant funding, tax benefits, and an exemption from user fees.