Avacta Group PLC (AIM:AVCT) surged almost 10% on Friday after announcing the sale of its subsidiary Launch Diagnostics Holdings Ltd.
Launch, a UK-based diagnostics business, is being sold for £12.9 million to Duomed Belgium.
Discussions over a smaller Belgian-headquartered diagnostics unit, Coris BioConcept SRL, are also taking place as Avacta works to become a pure-play biotechnology company.
Avacta chair described the sale as "a critical and necessary step forward", and added that efforts to diversify into diagnostics had proved to be "very disappointing".
Proceeds from the sale will now go towards Avacta’s pre|CISION platform which aims to deliver new chemotherapy drugs.
In London, Avacta shares were up 9.9% at 39.85p.