Shares in CelLBxHealth PLC (AIM:CLBX, FRA:DWV) jumped 36% to 2.35p after it signed a master services agreement with AstraZeneca PLC (LSE:AZN, NASDAQ:AZN), the FTSE 100 pharmaceutical group.
The deal establishes CelLBxHealth as a qualified service provider to the Anglo-Swedish giant, allowing it to support drug discovery and development through CTC-powered analytics of clinical trial samples using its Parsortix platform.
CTCs are cancer cells that have broken away from a tumour and entered the bloodstream, and their analysis can provide insights into how a disease is progressing or responding to treatment.
The company's patent-protected Parsortix platform harvests these CTCs from blood samples for downstream analysis, including whole-cell imaging, proteomic profiling and genomic workflows.
The agreement gives AZ access to CelLBxHealth's capabilities across its development pipeline, rather than being limited to a single programme.
Peter Collins, chief executive of CelLBxHealth, said the company looked forward to delivering "strong and productive outcomes" through the framework.