At a Glance
- Company: Abbott; Exact Sciences (now wholly owned)
- Location: Abbott Park, Illinois; Exact delisted from Nasdaq
- Deal value: Not disclosed here (all‑share merger previously agreed)
- Focus area: Cancer screening and precision oncology diagnostics
- Next steps: Integrate portfolio, expand global access to cancer tests
What happened?
Abbott has completed its acquisition of Exact Sciences, making the cancer diagnostics specialist a wholly owned subsidiary and ending trading of Exact Sciences’ shares on Nasdaq as of 20 March 2026. Abbott says the deal establishes it as a leader in fast‑growing cancer screening and diagnostics segments and will enable the company to serve millions more people worldwide.
Why does it matter?
The transaction gives Abbott a major position in the roughly 60 billion USD US cancer screening and precision oncology diagnostics markets, adding a new growth vertical on top of its existing high single‑digit growth expectations. Management frames the move as central to a strategy of making diagnostics more preventative, predictive and personalised, at a time when global cancer incidence continues to rise and early detection is increasingly prioritised by health systems.
Who’s behind it?
Abbott is a global healthcare company with businesses across diagnostics, medical devices, nutritionals and branded generics, employing about 122,000 people in more than 160 countries. Exact Sciences brings a legacy of cancer testing innovation and a specialist team that Abbott CEO Robert Ford says will help “transform cancer care” when combined with Abbott’s global commercial and operational scale.
How was it achieved?
Under the merger agreement, Exact Sciences was absorbed into Abbott as a wholly owned subsidiary upon closing of the deal. Abbott gains a suite of marketed products including Cologuard for non‑invasive colorectal cancer screening, Oncotype DX for guiding early breast cancer treatment, the Oncodetect tumour‑informed MRD test for recurrence monitoring, and Cancerguard, a multi‑cancer early detection blood test, along with a pipeline of next‑generation cancer screening and monitoring technologies.
What’s next?
Abbott plans to integrate Exact Sciences’ portfolio and pipeline into its diagnostics business, using its global footprint and relationships with healthcare systems to expand access to early cancer detection and personalised treatment tools. The company also highlights potential synergies and growth but cautions that realising anticipated benefits will depend on successful integration and execution, as outlined in its forward‑looking statements.