On March 23, 2026 Abbott (NYSE: ABT) reported it has completed the acquisition of Exact Sciences, establishing Abbott as a leader in fast-growing cancer screening and diagnostics segments and enabling the company to serve millions of additional people.
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"Abbott’s global scale, track record of operational and commercial excellence and work with healthcare systems around the world will expand access to important tools for early cancer detection and personalized treatments," said Robert B. Ford, chairman and chief executive officer, Abbott. "With the legacy and deep expertise of the Exact Sciences team, we’re ready to transform cancer care."
Pursuant to the terms of the merger agreement, upon completion of the acquisition, Exact Sciences became a wholly owned subsidiary of Abbott. As a result of the completion of the acquisition, March 20, 2026, was the last day of trading of Exact Sciences shares on the Nasdaq Stock Market.
Strategic fit
The transaction positions Abbott to advance diagnostics that are more preventative, predictive and personalized while expanding the company’s presence in one of the fastest-growing areas of healthcare as global cancer incidence continues to rise. It also adds a new growth vertical to Abbott’s already high-single-digit growth expectations, establishing leadership in the fast-growing $60 billion U.S. cancer screening and precision oncology diagnostics segments.
Industry-leading offerings and pipeline
Abbott now has a comprehensive suite of products and differentiated pipeline focused on the early detection of cancer and supporting personalized treatments. This includes the Cologuard test, a market-leading noninvasive colorectal cancer screening option; Oncotype DX, which informs personalized treatment decisions for patients with early-stage breast cancer; Oncodetect, a tumor-informed molecular residual disease (MRD) test to help identify cancer recurrence and guide follow-up care; and Cancerguard, a multi-cancer early detection blood test.
Abbott also adds a leading pipeline of next-generation cancer screening and diagnostics designed to detect cancer even earlier, optimize treatment decisions and enable regular monitoring to help people stay healthy and better manage the disease.
(Press release, Abbott, MAR 23, 2026, https://abbott.mediaroom.com/2026-03-23-Abbott-completes-acquisition-of-Exact-Sciences [SID1234663818])