Yourgene wins Covid-19 surge testing support contract with DHSC

Molecular diagnostics group Yourgene has been awarded a contract to provide laboratory capacity to the Department of Health & Social Care in order to support a Winter surge in Covid-19 testing.

Yourgene said on Thursday that the "Mini Tender Winter Surge Capacity" contract was the third DHSC contract awarded to the group under the Public Health England National Microbiology Framework Agreement in 2021.

The AIM-listed firm, which won the contract throughout its Yourgene Genomic Services unit, highlighted that the previous two awards included a Covid-19 PCR surge testing contract in August and the recent UKHSA sequencing award.

Chief executive Lyn Rees said: "This is another strong endorsement of our progress and we are pleased to be able to support the nation's Covid testing effort. Actual value for this contract will depend on the services purchased, with no committed spend at this moment in time, but we look forward to updating shareholders on the progress over time."

As of 0900 GMT, Yourgene shares were up 3.27% at 12.65p.