(Reuters) -Abbott said on Thursday it would buy cancer test maker Exact Sciences in a deal valued at up to $23 billion, including debt, marking one of its largest acquisitions in nearly a decade and its first major push into cancer screening.
The deal will add Exact Sciences’ flagship colorectal cancer test Cologuard and early-stage breast cancer test Oncotype DX to Abbott’s diagnostics portfolio, helping offset revenue declines from its COVID-19 testing kits.
As part of the agreement, Exact Sciences shareholders will receive $105 apiece in cash, implying a premium of about 21.8% to the stock’s last closing price. Exact shares jumped more than 17% to $101.4 in premarket trading, while Abbott was down nearly 2%.
The deal represents an equity value of about $21 billion and assumes absorption of Exact Sciences’ estimated net debt of about $1.8 billion.
Exact Sciences is projected to generate more than $3 billion in revenue this year, growing at a high-teens organic rate, lifting Abbott’s total diagnostics sales to more than $12 billion annually.
Abbott’s diagnostics business includes lab tests for heart disease and infections, rapid tests for illnesses such as COVID-19, and advanced molecular tests that detect genetic markers and viruses.
Exact’s Cologuard is a non-invasive test to screen for colorectal cancer, the second-leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Unlike a colonoscopy, which requires bowel preparation, sedation and a clinical visit, Cologuard can be done at home by collecting a stool sample and mailing it to a lab.
The deal is expected to close in the second quarter of 2026 after Exact Sciences’ shareholder approval.
(Reporting by Padmanabhan Ananthan, Siddhi Mahatole and Kamal Choudhury in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)
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