Shares of Manchester-based molecular diagnostics firm Yourgene Health plc rose about 4% on Wednesday after it announced it entered into a licence and supply agreement with “a leading US precision medicine company for an initial term of three years commencing  1 April 2022.”

The Manchester firm said it anticipates the partnership will generate “accretive multi-million dollar revenues” for Yourgene in the years to follow.

Yourgene said the agreement grants the partner a non-exclusive licence to Yourgene‘s Flex Analysis Software and commits Yourgene “to supplying sample preparation reagents and instrumentation to support the planned launch of a new clinical reproductive health screening service across all US states by the partner.”

Yourgene said the agreement allows for automatic annual renewals after the initial term, subject to typical notice provisions.

“The partner is a leading precision medicine organisation with an established franchise in genetic diagnostics, who wishes to build a significant market presence in the rapidly growing US reproductive health diagnostics sector,” said Yourgene.

“After a competitive process the partner has chosen to partner with Yourgene, given its unique sample preparation technology, bioinformatics expertise and flexible approach to customising its workflow …”

Yourgene CEO Lyn Rees said: “We are extremely pleased to sign this agreement with such a prestigious US company and this is a strong endorsement of our software and technology expertise.

“This collaboration aligns with our strategic goal of providing partners with the best-in-class instrumentation and medical software analysis capabilities.

“We look forward to enabling our partner to launch a competitive clinical offering into the US market in 2022 and we anticipate that this partnership will generate accretive multi-million dollar revenues for Yourgene in the years to follow. Our move into the US market space is gaining momentum and our newly acquired Ranger® Technology is proving to be a real door opener.”