A logo of Abbott at the company’s booth at the 8th China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai, China, November 6, 2025.REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov

(Reuters) -Abbott said on Thursday it would buy cancer test maker Exact Sciences in a deal valued at up to $23 billion, including debt, marking one of its largest acquisitions in nearly a decade and its first major push into cancer screening.

The deal will add Exact's flagship colorectal cancer test Cologuard and early-stage breast cancer test Oncotype DX to Abbott's diagnostics portfolio, helping offset revenue declines from its COVID-19 testing kits.

Abbott will pay $105 per share in cash, implying a near 22% premium to Exact stock's last closing. Exact shares jumped more than 18% to $102.1 in premarket trading, while Abbott slipped about 1%.

The bid values Exact at a level it has not traded at since 2023, said Bernstein analyst Christian Moore. The premium could weigh on Abbott's shares on Thursday as earnings and multiples will likely be under pressure in the near term, Moore said.

The deal represents an equity value of about $21 billion and assumes absorption of Exact's estimated net debt of about $1.8 billion.

Abbott said the deal will be dilutive to its adjusted earnings per share through 2027.

Moore also raised concerns about the strategic rationale of the deal, noting that Abbott does not have an oncology business that would benefit from Exact's tests.

Abbott's diagnostics business includes lab tests for heart disease and infections, rapid tests for illnesses such as COVID-19 and advanced molecular tests that detect genetic markers and viruses.

Exact Sciences is projected to generate more than $3 billion in revenue this year, growing at a high-teens organic rate, lifting Abbott's total diagnostics sales to more than $12 billion annually.

The deal is expected to close in the second quarter of 2026 after Exact's shareholder approval.

(Reporting by Padmanabhan Ananthan, Siddhi Mahatole and Kamal Choudhury in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)