Signal Genetics Inc. (NASDAQ: SGNL) soared right out of the gate Wednesday morning on word of a new agreement. Basically, the company announced the signing of a master service agreement (MSA) with a leading biopharmaceutical company.

The first two projects under this MSA will deploy Signal’s proprietary MyPRS test to inform the clinical stage development program of a novel treatment — including potential combination therapies with current drugs — for patients with multiple myeloma.

Signal is a commercial stage, molecular diagnostic company focused on providing innovative diagnostic services that help physicians make better-informed decisions concerning the care of their patients suffering from cancer. Signal’s mission is to develop, validate and deliver innovative diagnostic services that enable better patient-care decisions.

Michael Cerio, SVP of Commercial Strategy and Business Development, commented on the announcement:

This partnership with a leading biopharmaceutical company reflects robust and growing interest in Signal’s proprietary platform of diagnostic services. With this agreement in place, our MyPRS is now being utilized in a total of six pharmaceutical clinical studies across the two partnerships captured this year. We believe the results of these studies will reinforce the power of MyPRS as the most clinically validated gene expression test across the array of drug classes being developed to treat multiple myeloma. We hope to build on these foundational partnerships using a two-pronged approach that includes both securing new industry partners and expanding existing relationships into additional clinical trials. We see pharmaceutical and biotechnology clinical trial services as a core value driver for Signal going forward as they provide opportunities to create additional revenue generation and bring awareness to the capabilities of our technology in managing patient care.

So far in 2015, shares of Signal have underperformed the market. As of Tuesday’s closing price of $1.33, the stock is down over 47% year to date and down 72% in the past 52 weeks.

Shares of Signal were up over 46% at $1.95 just after Wednesday’s opening bell. The stock has a consensus analyst price target of $2.88 and a 52-week trading range of $1.28 to $5.80.

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