Oct 2 (Reuters) - Ariad Pharmaceuticals Inc said its experimental lung cancer drug received "breakthrough therapy" status from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, sending its shares up 7 percent premarket.

The designation hastens the development and review periods of a drug that shows evidence of providing improvement over existing treatment for patients with serious and life-threatening diseases.

The company said the designation was based on early results that showed the drug, AP26113, continued to fight against lung cancer in patients who did not respond to crizotinib, an already-approved drug made by Pfizer Inc.

(Reporting by Vidya L Nathan in Bangalore; Editing by Ted Kerr)