Abbott in Advanced Talks to Acquire Exact Sciences for Up to $20 Billion in 2026’s Largest MedTech Deal

According to overseas reports:Abbott andExact ScienceAn agreement may be reached in the next few days. The two companies are still in negotiations, and there is no guarantee that a deal will be finalized. Following this news,Exact ScienceStock price surged more than 20% to $83.66 per share in afternoon trading. Abbott's stock price fell by 3.5% to $125.60 per share.

Introduction to Exact Sciences

Exact Sciences is aHeadquartered in Madison, Wisconsin,A company dedicated to developing cancer screening and diagnostic tests.Its product portfolio includes established brands such as Cologuard and Oncotype Dx, as well as the Cancerguard test for early detection of multiple cancer types, and the Oncodetect test for molecular residual disease and recurrence monitoring.

Exact Sciences' flagship product, Cologuard, is a non-invasive test for colorectal cancer screening. It provides an alternative to colonoscopy without the need for bowel preparation, sedation, or clinical visits. Users can collect stool samples at home and mail them to the laboratory to complete the test.

RecentlyExact Sciences Corporation Announces2025 Q3 Financial Report, Q3Total revenue was $850.7 million (+20%). The star product, Cologuard, became the main driver of revenue growth (revenue$6.662 billion, +22%）。

Market Evaluation

The market believes: once the deal is reached, itsExact ScienceThe value could be as high as 20 billion US dollars (currentlyExact Sciences Corporation has a market value of approximately 13 billion US dollars.）。

"IfExact ScienceApplying a 'traditional 25-40% premium' to yesterday's closing price, the enterprise value of the deal could reach approximately $18 billion to $20 billion. This transaction may enable Abbott to leverage its primary healthcare channel to sell Cologuard, similar to the sales model of its Libre continuous glucose monitoring system. At the same time, the deal brings Abbott expertise and skills in direct-to-consumer approaches, which are expected to expand scale and increase market penetration. In terms of size, this potential transaction can be compared to Johnson & Johnson’s acquisition of Abiomed in 2022 and Siemens Healthineers’ acquisition of Varian Medical Systems in 2021.

---BTIG

"On the surface, we believe this acquisition is strategically reasonable for Abbott. Similar to Abbott,Exact ScienceExact Sciences' products (Cologuard and Oncotype) have strong brand influence, a large primary care sales team with further potential to be tapped, and an impressive product pipeline that can drive revenue growth in the coming years. Abbott has not previously participated in the rapidly growing cancer diagnostics market, andExact Science"Will provide a platform for entering the market."

---William Blair