Exact Sciences, whose Cologuard test is the largest single molecular test paid by Medicare in 2019, has been on a roll since October 2014, when it received CMS coverage for Cologuard under a Parallel Review NCD. Share price and market cap are up 10X since then. Exact acquired Genomic Health for $2.8B in July 2019, just over a year ago (here).
October 27, Exact announces it will acquire THRIVE, in a deal valued up to $2.1B ($1.7B up front). Concurrently, Exact acquires DNA methylation analysis company Base Genetics for $410M. Exact also announced a $879M fundraising event.
According to Genomeweb, THRIVE has garnered over $350M in investments. In the same space, note that Illumina recently agreed to acquire GRAIL for $8B (here).
Policy Events Contribute
Policy events are contributing to the roll in minimal detection and screening uses of liquid biopsy in cancer. A few weeks ago, CMS announced a proposed NCD under which it would cover all FDA approved liquid biopsy cancer screening tests if they meet pre-determined CMS performance standards. (Here). The MolDx program announced it was proposing to cover minimal disease detection tests for cancer monitoring (such as recurrence and chemotherapy response) in both hematopoeitic and solid cancers. (Here, here.)
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