Recent oncological studies identified beneficial properties of radiation applied at ultrahigh dose rates, several orders of magnitude higher than the clinical standard of the order of Gy min^–1. Sources capable of providing these ultrahigh dose rates are under investigation. Here we show that a stable, compact laser-driven proton source with energies greater than 60 MeV enables radiobiological in vivo studies. We performed a pilot irradiation study on human tumours in a mouse model, showing the concerted preparation of mice and laser accelerator, dose-controlled, tumour-conform irradiation using a laser-driven as well as a clinical reference proton source, and the radiobiological evaluation of irradiated and unirradiated mice for radiation-induced tumour growth delay. The prescribed homogeneous dose of 4 Gy was precisely delivered at the laser-driven source. The results demonstrate a complete laser-driven proton research platform for diverse user-specific small animal models, able to deliver tunable single-shot doses up to around 20 Gy to millimetre-scale volumes on nanosecond timescales, equivalent to around 10⁹ Gy s^–1, spatially homogenized and tailored to the sample. The platform provides a unique infrastructure for translational research with protons at ultrahigh dose rates.