Oncimmune said the contract was with a customer which it was already a preferred supplier under a long-term master services agreement and focuses on a rare immune-related disease, an area in which the firm has "considerable experience".

The AIM-listed group stated that it will use an array of over 1,000 antigens run on its high-throughput, bead-based system and will analyse over 500 samples, many of which were already held by Oncimmune.

Chief executive Martin Gouldstone said: "I continue to be pleased with the commercial progress we are making, especially in terms of the increasing scale of the projects we are winning with major customers. Our recent wins show that our strategy is working and I am confident that we are in a strong position to meet our targets for FY24 and reach profitability in FY25."

As of 1010 BST, Oncimmune shares had shot up 9.53% to 19.22p.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com