Atossa Therapeutics, Inc. (ATOS) caught a nice regulatory tailwind Thursday, sending shares climbing after the FDA handed out some good news about one of its experimental treatments.

What Happened: The FDA granted Atossa's drug candidate (Z)-Endoxifen a rare pediatric disease designation for treating Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. This isn't just a participation trophy. The designation is reserved for treatments tackling serious or life-threatening conditions that primarily hit people from birth through age 18.

Here's where it gets interesting: the designation makes (Z)-Endoxifen eligible for a priority review voucher once it clears a qualifying marketing application. Think of this voucher as a FastPass at Disney World, except for drug approvals. Companies can use it to speed up FDA review of a future application, or they can sell it to another drugmaker. These vouchers have fetched tens of millions of dollars in the past.

"This designation is an important regulatory milestone for Atossa, and we believe a strong validation of the science supporting the potential of (Z)-Endoxifen as a treatment for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy," said Steven Quay, the company's CEO.

The context matters here: Atossa hasn't generated revenue since 2016, and it's been posting losses of 7 cents per share for the past two quarters. So any positive regulatory milestone carries extra weight for investors looking for signs of progress.

Price Movement: Atossa shares climbed 9.41% to around 93 cents at the time of publication.