June 12, 2009 (FinancialWire) — Exact Sciences Corp. (NASDAQ: EXAS) (Current Market Cap: US$61.447 Mil.) said that it has entered into a collaboration and license agreement with Mayo Clinic. The company also said that it has closed an $8.2-million private placement of 4.3 million shares of its common stock.

According to Exact, the collaborative relationship with Mayo Clinic is focused on developing patient-friendly diagnostics that reduce deaths from colorectal cancer.

Under the license agreement, Exact has secured exclusive rights to intellectual property developed by David Ahlquist at Mayo Clinic. The licensed patents cover advances in sample processing, analytical testing and data analysis associated with non-invasive, stool-based DNA screening for colorectal cancer.

Exact said it will make up-front, milestone and royalty payments to Mayo Clinic under the deal, and will provide funding for future work in Ahlquist’s lab.

Exact and Mayo Clinic also have agreed to enter into a research and development relationship with Ahlquist’s laboratory. According to Exact, the deal will provide the company with an experienced research and development team that will focus its initial efforts on the company’s colorectal screening test. Exact said it retains exclusive rights to commercialize the breakthroughs that result from this collaboration.

Marlborough, Massachusetts-based Exact Sciences is a molecular diagnostics company focused on colorectal cancer.

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