Exact Sciences To Acquire Genomic Health In £2.27bn Deal

Under the deal, Genomic Health stockholders will secure $27.50 (£22.36) in cash and $44.50 (£36.19) in shares of Exact Sciences stock.

Once the deal concludes, Exact Sciences shareholders will hold around 91% of the combined company, while Genomic Health stockholders will own the remaining 9% interest.

The merger of both entities will lead to the formation of a major global cancer diagnostics company, which offers major brands such as Cologuard and Oncotype DX that have a commercial presence in over 90 countries.

The combined commercial organisation, which will have over 1,000 team members, will focus on the development of advanced products across the diagnostic paradigm, including the ongoing work to identify proprietary biomarkers across the world’s 15 deadliest cancers.

Exact Sciences chairman and CEO Kevin Conroy said: “Exact Sciences is continuing to grow sales and expand adoption of Cologuard at a rapid pace, and Genomic Health’s Oncotype DX is the global standard of care to inform treatment decisions for women with breast cancer.”

With a total available US screening market of $15bn (£12.2bn), Exact Sciences’ Cologuard brand aims to capture 40% share of the market over the long-term and it currently has 174,000 health care provider customer base.

Genomic Health’s Oncotype IQ portfolio of genomic tests and services currently includes Oncotype DX gene expression tests that were used to guide treatment decisions for more than one million cancer patients across the world.

Genomic Health is also expanding its test portfolio with the addition of more liquid and tissue-based tests such as Oncotype DX AR-V7 Nucleus Detect test.

Subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals, the deal is expected to be completed by the end of this year.

Genomic Health board chairman, president and CEO Kim Popovits said: “Genomic Health has achieved incredible success over nearly two decades in pioneering cancer diagnostics, and the recent landmark TAILORx trial results set a new standard of care for the use of the Oncotype DX test for women with early-stage invasive breast cancer.” – NS Medical Devices