Exact Sciences inks $24M sale, fends off hostile bid

Exact Sciences has forged an asset sale agreement with Genzyme for $24.5 million in a deal that successfully fended off a hostile buyout offer from Sequenom. Genzyme gets IP concerning prenatal and reproductive health along with three million shares of Exact Sciences. And Exact Sciences also received confirmation this morning that Sequenom was terminating its exchange offer.

Sequenom launched a hostile bid for Exact Sciences on Tuesday after Exact Science's board had rejected a January 12 buyout offer. Exact Sciences, which has been struggling financially, says that the deal with Genzyme now gives it the capital it needs to fund operations into 2011.

"This transaction has allowed us to substantially monetize previously underappreciated assets in the field of prenatal and reproductive health without diminishing the value of our colorectal cancer business," Exact Chairman Patrick Zenner said in a morning conference call with analysts, according to a report on GenomeWeb News. "It also provides a substantial amount of non-dilutive financing for Exact that will allow to execute on key aspects of our business plan."

- see Sequenom's release
- read the report in GenomeWeb News

ALSO: On Monday Sequenom said it had acquired Ann Arbor, MI-based SensiGen for $8.7 million. SensiGen develops gene-based molecular tests. Report