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Our Take: Abbott to boost its diagnostics portfolio with $21 billion acquisition of Exact Sciences

November 24, 2025

Abbott to boost its diagnostics portfolio with $21 billion acquisition of Exact Sciences

Abbott has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Madison, Wis.-based Exact Sciences, a leader in cancer screening, precision oncology, and genetic testing, for $105 per share in cash, representing a total equity value of approximately $21 billion, plus an estimated $1.8 billion in net debt.

Exact Sciences’ products include Cologuard, a noninvasive test that screens for colon cancer; Oncotype DX, a test used to inform personalized treatment decisions for patients who have breast cancer; Oncodetect, a product that can identify molecular residual disease to aid in assessing the risk of recurrence and to guide follow-up care; and Cancerguard, an early detection blood test for multiple types of cancer.

“Exact Sciences’ innovation, its strong brand, and customer-focused execution are unrivaled in the cancer diagnostics space, and its presence and strengths are complementary to our own,” said Robert Ford, Abbott’s CEO. “Abbott has repeatedly taken on the world's most challenging health issues and made a meaningful impact on the lives of people in areas such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and infectious diseases. We’re excited to bring Exact Sciences’ people and know-how into Abbott so that together, we can take on the global challenge of cancer.”

Kevin Conroy, Exact Sciences’ CEO, said, “Abbott’s culture of innovation and global commercial reach will help accelerate our mission of eradicating cancer and expanding access to our tests worldwide, while delivering immediate and substantial value to our shareholders.”

Abbott and Exact Sciences anticipate completing the transaction in the second quarter of next year, provided regulatory authorities and Exact Sciences’ shareholders approve the acquisition and other customary closing conditions are met. Both companies’ boards unanimously approved the acquisition.

When the deal is finalized, Exact Sciences will become a subsidiary of Abbott. Conroy will stay on with the company in an advisory role to support the transition and accelerate its global impact, according to Abbott.

The purchase price of $105 per share is about a 22% premium to the closing price of Exact Sciences’ shares on Wednesday, the day before the agreement was announced. Earlier on Wednesday, Exact Sciences’ stock soared more than $16, from an opening price of $69.50 per share, when Bloomberg reported on rumors of a possible deal with Abbott.

OUR TAKE: By adding Exact Sciences’ products to its diagnostics portfolio, Abbott will blunt the decline in revenue from sales of its COVID-19 tests. Joshua Jennings, an analyst with TD Cowen, suggested that the Exact Sciences acquisition has the potential to return Abbott’s diagnostics franchise to pre-pandemic growth rates.

Abbott noted in its press release that Exact Sciences is projected to generate revenue upward of $3 billion this year, and once Exact Sciences becomes a subsidiary, Abbott’s total diagnostics sales will surpass $12 billion annually.

Abbott’s medical device business focuses heavily on diabetes and cardiovascular disease, and as CNBC pointed out, the deal with Exact Sciences marks Abbott’s first big push into cancer screening with preventive diagnostic devices.

Abbott could leverage the sizable salesforce it employs for detailing continuous glucose monitors to expand sales of Exact Sciences’ products through the primary care provider channel, The Wall Street Journal reported in its Health Care Roundup Market Talk on Thursday.

“Abbott controls the largest primary care-facing point-of-care diagnostics footprint globally,” Jennings, the TD Cowen analyst, remarked. “Since colorectal cancer screening is overwhelmingly driven by primary care, Cologuard can be integrated into workflows that Abbott’s reps already influence every day,” he said.

Health Care Rounds #193:‍Jigar Thakkar, PharmD
CEO, Longitude Rx

Specialty pharmacy plays a critical role in patient outcomes, but health systems often struggle to manage operations effectively while maintaining continuity of care. In this episode of Health Care Rounds, host John Marchica talks with Jigar Thakkar, PharmD, CEO of Longitude Rx, about how his company is helping leading health systems reimagine specialty pharmacy through technology, data integration, and partnership. Download the episode on your favorite podcast platform or watch it on YouTube.

What else you need to know

Johnson & Johnson agreed to pay $3.05 billion for Halda Therapeutics, a biotech startup based in New Haven, Conn. Halda has been developing highly targeted oral therapies for cancer based on a proprietary technology platform called RIPTAC (regulated induced proximity targeting chimera). “Many therapies lose effectiveness over time due to resistance. Halda’s innovative technology is designed to work even when cancers no longer respond to standard treatments using a novel mechanism that enables the selective killing of cancer cells,” said Dr. John Reed, executive vice president of Innovative Medicine, R&D at Johnson & Johnson.

Halda’s lead candidate, HLD-0915, is a potential first-in-class treatment for prostate cancer. The biotech’s pipeline also includes earlier candidates for breast, lung, and other tumor types. In a news release announcing the agreement, J&J noted that Halda’s pipeline and platform may enable development of targeted therapies for diseases beyond oncology. The transaction, which is subject to antitrust clearance and other customary closing conditions, is expected to close in the next few months. Halda is one of several biotechs founded by Professor Craig Crews, director of the Yale Center for Molecular Discovery.

Northwell Health has formed a joint venture with K Health to expand access to primary care in New York. Together, the organizations have developed a virtual care platform called Northwell Primary Care Now. The platform, powered by K Health’s "clinical-grade" AI, offers patients easy access to comprehensive primary care, 24/7, wherever they need it, Northwell Health said in a news release. Using Northwell Primary Care Now, patients can schedule same-day appointments with the health system’s clinicians. Patients initially engage with an AI assistant that collects their symptoms and organizes the information for the physician, Northwell explained. From there, patients either talk with a physician virtually or are directed to an in-person appointment.

Northwell said the platform will be fully integrated within the health system so that care provided by primary care physicians is connected to the care patients receive at any of Northwell’s facilities. Northwell noted that the technology is designed to supplement traditional care, not replace it. Hackensack Meridian Health, Mass General Brigham, and Mayo Clinic have also partnered with K Health.

Through a collaboration with Epic, Humana has simplified the check-in process for its Medicare Advantage (MA) members who receive care from providers at approximately 120 health systems. Now that new features in Epic’s payer platform have been activated, Humana MA members can have their coverage verified automatically ahead of their appointments, thereby eliminating the need to provide a physical insurance card or fill out certain paperwork, Humana said in a press release. The new features allow members’ insurance details to be shared digitally with care providers that use Epic, reducing check-in time for members and office staff while ensuring the coverage information is accurate and current. Humana and Epic were among the 60 organizations that pledged earlier this year to participate in CMS’ Health Tech Ecosystem initiative, which is intended to improve health data sharing.

Advocate Health launched what it says is “the nation’s largest and most inclusive clinical trial network.” The new Advocate Health National Center for Clinical Trials is “designed to accelerate discovery by making participation in health care research part of the standard of care” for Advocate Health patients across the U.S. With 69 hospitals and more than 1,000 sites of care throughout the U.S., Advocate Health serves nearly 6 million patients, the Charlotte, N.C.-based health system noted in its announcement.

Bolstered by the expertise of Advocate Health’s academic core at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, the new clinical trial center already has an institutional review board. The center is developing AI-powered matching with features built into care providers’ workflows to identify and enroll eligible patients in trials where they live. By increasing patients’ participation in clinical trials, the center aims to generate more robust, more accurate data researchers need to develop new treatments in diverse specialties. In addition, care teams will have the support of centralized infrastructure and designated trial sites that can manage administrative functions. Along with AI matching, the center will use real-time data tracking and predictive analytics to “modernize” the clinical trial process.

West Virginia University Health System plans to acquire Independence Health System, a five-hospital system in western Pennsylvania. If the transaction closes next fall as anticipated, Independence Health’s hospitals, affiliated physician groups, and other subsidiaries will operate under the WVU Health System brand. As part of the deal, WVU Health System agreed to invest $800 million in the Greensburg, Pa.-based health system over the next five years to modernize its hospitals, grow clinical services, and expand access to care. The acquisition is subject to regulatory approval and bondholder consent, the press release noted. Independence Health System formed through the merger of Butler Health System and Excela Health in early 2023. WVU Health System is the state’s largest system, with 25 hospitals, including an academic medical center, and five institutes.

Cigna Healthcare has launched a health plan called Clearity with tiered copays and no deductibles or coinsurance. The plan is available to employers in five design packages, according to the announcement, with each package including as many as four in-network tiers and one out-of-network tier. Clearity features Cigna Healthcare’s AI-powered digital tools to assist plan members with actions such as checking their benefit coverage, estimating out-of-pocket costs, and finding providers and services. Members also can take advantages of upfront pricing and verified patient reviews. Clearity is designed “to bring greater transparency, predictability, and simplicity to the care experience,” Cigna said. Aetna offers a copay-only health plan called SimplePay Health for self-funded employers, and UnitedHealthcare offers copay-only options within its Surest and Copay Focus plans. HealthPartners also recently announced its Simplica NextGen Copay plan for large-group, self-insured employers in and around Minneapolis’ Twin Cities.