Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS) shares climbed sharply in premarket trade on Wednesday after it reached an agreement with Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE) to co-promote a screening test for colorectal cancer.
The agreement runs through 2021. The sales representative of Exact Sciences will be joined by Pfizer to reach physicians and health systems while taking part in the Cologuard marketing campaign, a statement said. Cologuard was approved by the FDA in 2014.
Shares of Exact Sciences soared almost 16.5% to trade at US$58.30 in pre-market action. The stock had finished on Tuesday up 1.7% to US$50.05. Pfizer was barely changed at US$42.16 before the bell.
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Under the terms of the deal, Pfizer will co-promote Cologuard starting in the fourth quarter of 2018. Exact Sciences will maintain responsibility for all aspects of manufacturing and laboratory operations of Cologuard. Pfizer will share gross profits and marketing expenses equally above an agreed upon baseline, the statement said.
Colorectal cancer is one of the most preventable yet least prevented form of cancer. It is the second leading cause of cancer death in the US with more than 50,000 dying each year. Nine of 10 people survive in people who are diagnosed with State I or II, but only one in 10 survive more than five years if the cancer is Stage IV.
Exact Sciences Corp is a molecular diagnostics company focused on the early detection and prevention of the deadliest forms of cancer. The company is based in Madison, Wisconsin.