Abbott Laboratories agreed to acquire Exact Sciences for $23 billion, a transformative move that expands Abbott into cancer diagnostics and substantially increases its addressable diagnostics market. Exact’s portfolio—Cologuard, Cancerguard MCED, Oncotype Dx and MRD assays—gives Abbott screening, therapy selection, and monitoring capabilities across oncology. Executives said the deal is immediately accretive to margins and strengthens Abbott’s position in precision oncology testing. Industry analysts view the acquisition as validation of the centralized, single‑lab business model and expect additional consolidation within the diagnostics sector as big IVD players pursue scale and clinical utility. The purchase raises integration and reimbursement questions—particularly for multi‑cancer early detection and lab‑based genomic tests—but signals growing strategic importance of diagnostics in pharmaceutical and payer decision making.