Exact Sciences to Acquire Thrive Earlier Detection

Exact Sciences has announced plans to buy liquid biopsy developer Thrive Earlier Detection in a cash-and-stock deal worth up to $2.15 billion.
 
Thrive’s main offering is an FDA breakthrough device-designated, 10-cancer, blood-based screening test called CancerSEEK, developed by researchers at Johns Hopkins University and assessed in a 10,000-patient prospective study. The startup only formally launched last year, when it raised $100 million in Series A funding. It raised $257 million in a Series B this year.
 
The move comes weeks after Illumina put up $8 billion to acquire Grail, which also develops blood tests to detect cancer. It’s the second major acquisition for Exact Sciences in two years; the Madison, Wisconsin-based diagnostics company bought cancer treatment prediction and recurrence test maker Genomic Health for $2.8 billion in 2019.
 
The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2021.