** Shares of Capricor Therapeutics CAPR.O rise ~12% to $15.30 premarket

** Co says the U.S. FDA has granted Priority Review to its drug to treat a heart condition associated with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD)

** DMD cardiomyopathy is a heart muscle disease that can develop in individuals with the genetic condition causing progressive muscle weakness

** FDA is set to decide on the cell therapy, deramiocel, by August 31

** 'Priority review' status reduces the review timeline to six months from the time of filing, compared to a standard review timeline of 10 months

** Up to last close, stock nearly tripled in the past 12 months

(Reporting by Mariam Sunny in Bengaluru)

((Mariam.ESunny@thomsonreuters.com;))