NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of Signal Genetics (SGNL) were gaining by 12.8% to $1.50 on heavy trading volume on Wednesday, after the molecular diagnostics company signed a master service agreement with a major biopharmaceutical company.

The first two projects under the master service agreement will deploy Signal Genetics' MyPRS test to inform the clinical stage development program of a novel treatment for patients with multiple myeloma, including potential combination therapies with current drugs.

Signal Genetics and the unnamed biopharmaceutical partner will start both projects before the end of 2015.

"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," Michael Cerio, Signal Genetics SVP of Commercial Strategy and Business Development, said in a statement. "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."

About 9.8 million shares of Signal Genetics were traded by 10:39 a.m. Wednesday, above the company's average trading volume of about 682,000 shares a day.

SGNL data by YCharts