Abbott announced a definitive agreement to acquire Exact Sciences in a transaction valued at about $23 billion, combining Abbott’s diagnostics infrastructure with Exact Sciences’ screening and oncology testing portfolio, including Cologuard, Cancerguard MCED, Oncotype Dx and MRD assays. Executives said the deal will expand Abbott’s total addressable market in diagnostics and be immediately accretive to margins. Analysts from BTIG and Leerink framed the acquisition as validation of the single-site central-lab model and predicted increased M&A interest across precision oncology diagnostics, with competitors such as Guardant and Natera under fresh scrutiny. Abbott expects the acquisition to close in 2Q 2026 and to drive integration of screening, therapy selection and recurrence monitoring within a single Dx owner.