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Yahoo
a minute ago
- Yahoo
Exact Sciences Dip A Chance To Buy As Freenome Deal Fortifies Future: Analyst
Exact Sciences Corp. (NYSE:EXAS) on Thursday reported a second-quarter 2025 EPS loss of 1 cent, up from a 9-cent loss a year ago, beating the analyst consensus loss estimate of 19 cents. Revenues increased to $811.085 million, beating the consensus of $774.34 million. Sales jumped 16% on a reported and core revenue basis, including Screening revenue of $628 million and Precision Oncology revenue of $183 margin was 69%, and adjusted gross margin was 72%. In addition, Exact Sciences shared initial results from an internal version of its colorectal cancer (CRC) blood test, showing sensitivities of 73% for CRC and 14% for APL at 90% specificity. Internal testing and evaluation of the assay are ongoing. Outlook Exact Sciences raised its fiscal 2025 sales guidance from $3.07 billion-3.12 billion to $3.13 billion-$3.17 billion versus the consensus of $3.099 billion. The guidance includes a Screening segment sales forecast of $2.44 billion-$2.47 billion, compared to previous guidance of $2.39 billion-$2.43 billion. Precision Oncology sales are expected to be $690 million-$700 million, compared to prior guidance of $680 million-$695 million. The company expects 2025 adjusted EBITDA of $455 million-$475 million, up from previous guidance of $425 million-$455 million. M&A Deal Exact Sciences on Thursday agreed to acquire exclusive rights in the United States to current and future versions of Freenome's blood-based, single-indication colorectal cancer (CRC) screening tests. View more earnings on EXAS Complete findings from the prospective PREEMPT study were recently published in JAMA. Results show Freenome's first version test achieved sensitivities of 81% for CRC and 14% for advanced precancerous lesions (APL) at specificity of 90%. Freenome recently submitted the last module of the premarket application to the FDA. Freenome then plans to submit a supplement to the FDA for its next-generation test once final clinical validation data are available. Analyst Reaction William Blair writes that investors are most focused on acquisition of the exclusive rights to Freenome's current and future blood-based colorectal cancer (CRC) screening tests. The announcement comes as the company's blood CRC test did not meet expectations in the pivotal trial. Analyst Andrew Brackmann notes that shares are trading lower, representing an opportunity to build or add to positions. William Blair notes that the Freenome deal helps the company move faster in making money from these tests, reduces the threat from competitors, and eases investor concerns that blood-based CRC tests could slow down growth in its screening business. It strengthens the company's position as the top player in noninvasive CRC screening. William also expects the numbers to improve later this year and into 2026. William Blair reiterated the Outperform rating. Barclays maintained its Overweight rating but adjusted its price forecast downward from $65 to $55. Similarly, RBC Capital kept its Sector Perform rating for Exact Sciences, reducing its price forecast from $54 to $46. Finally, UBS reiterated its Neutral stance on the company, lowering its price forecast from $61 to $53. Price Action: EXAS stock is trading lower by 12.3% to $41.13 at last check Thursday. Read Next:Photo by Faces Portrait via Shutterstock Latest Ratings for EXAS Date Firm Action From To Feb 2022 Wells Fargo Maintains Equal-Weight Feb 2022 Citigroup Maintains Neutral Feb 2022 Raymond James Maintains Outperform View More Analyst Ratings for EXAS View the Latest Analyst Ratings UNLOCKED: 5 NEW TRADES EVERY WEEK. Click now to get top trade ideas daily, plus unlimited access to cutting-edge tools and strategies to gain an edge in the markets. Get the latest stock analysis from Benzinga? EXACT SCIENCES (EXAS): Free Stock Analysis Report This article Exact Sciences Dip A Chance To Buy As Freenome Deal Fortifies Future: Analyst originally appeared on © 2025 Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
6 minutes ago
- Yahoo
80-year-old ‘SuperAger' brain operates like that of a 50-year-old. Here's why
The human brain shrinks as it ages, affecting the ability to remember — it's part of life. Yet there are a lucky few, called 'SuperAgers,' who possess a brain that fights back. For these people, memories stay as sharp as they were 30 or more years in the past. Carol Siegler, who lives in the Chicago suburb of Palatine, is a SuperAger. At 82, she won the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament for her age group, which she said she entered 'as a gag.' 'I've auditioned twice for 'Jeopardy!' and did well enough on it to be invited to the live auditions. Then Covid hit,' Siegler told me in 2022, when she was 85. Today, Siegler is still going strong, well on her way to her 90th birthday, said Tamar Gefen, an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Mesulam Institute for Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Disease at Northwestern University in Chicago. Gefen conducts research at Northwestern's SuperAging Program, which is currently studying 113 SuperAgers. Over the past 25 years, however, 80 SuperAgers have donated their brain tissue to the program, which has led to some fascinating discoveries. CNN spoke to Gefen about those decades of work. She is a coauthor of a new analysis of the research that was published Thursday in Alzheimer's & Dementia, the journal of the Alzheimer's Association. This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity. CNN: How do you define a SuperAger, and what have you found out about their behavior over the years? Tamar Gefen: To be a SuperAger in our program at Northwestern, a person must be over 80 and undergo extensive cognitive testing. Acceptance in the study only occurs if the person's episodic memory — the ability to recall everyday events and past personal history — is as good or better than cognitively normal people in their 50s and 60s. We have screened close to 2,000 individuals who think they may be a SuperAger and less than 10% meet the criteria. Over the past 25 years, we have studied about 300 SuperAgers — a number of whom have donated their brain for research. One key trait of SuperAgers is that they seem to be highly social people. They value connection and are often active in their communities. This is interesting because we know isolation is a risk factor for developing dementia, and so staying socially active is a known protective feature. Another common thread in all SuperAgers is a sense of autonomy, freedom and independence. They're making decisions and living their lives the way that they want to live. I feel very strongly that successful aging is not just about sociability. If a person feels trapped, tethered or burdened, especially in a vulnerable state like poor health or older age, I think it can encroach on their entire psychosocial being. But as far as healthy behaviors, SuperAgers run the gamut. We have SuperAgers with heart disease, diabetes, who aren't physically active, who don't eat any better than their similar age peers. There is one SuperAger who drinks four beers every night. He laughs and says, 'Maybe it's done me wrong, but I'll never know.' He doesn't have an identical twin to compare his behavior to, so would he have lived to 108 instead of 98? We don't know. CNN: Many of your most intriguing discoveries have come from studying donor brain tissue. What have you discovered about the memory center of the SuperAger brain? Gefen: Our studies have shown that an area of the brain that is responsible for attention, motivation, and cognitive engagement — known as the cingulate cortex — is thicker in SuperAgers, even compared with those of people in their 50s and 60s. In the hippocampus, the memory center of the brain, we found SuperAgers have three times fewer tau tangles when compared to their 'normal' peers. Abnormal formations of tau proteins are one of the key signs of Alzheimer's. In Alzheimer's disease, tau also targets the neurons of the primary neurons of the cholinergic system — which is responsible for sustaining our attention in daily life. But that doesn't happen in the brain of a SuperAger. Therefore, the cholinergic system appears to be stronger, and likely more plastic and flexible for reasons that we're not sure about. That's interesting, because I see SuperAgers as focused. They can pay close attention, engage and actively listen. How else could they recall 13 out of 15 random words after 30 minutes? I picture them engraving the words on their cortex with a chisel. SuperAger brains also have bigger, healthier cells in the entorhinal cortex, an area essential for memory and learning, that has direct connections to the hippocampus. The entorhinal cortex, by the way, is one of the first areas of the brain to get hit by Alzheimer's disease. In another study we examined every layer of cells within the entorhinal cortex of SuperAgers, and we painstakingly measured the size of the neurons. We found that in layer two, which is the layer that is most important for information transmission, SuperAgers had humongous, plump, intact, beautiful, gigantic entorhinal cortex neurons. It was an incredible finding, because their entorhinal neurons were even larger than those in individuals who are much younger, some even in their 30s. That told us there is a structural integrity component at play — like the architecture, the bones, the skeleton of the neuron itself is sturdier. We're expanding the studies of these neurons to understand their biochemical signatures, determine what makes them special, and see if these signatures are found in other types of neurons in the brain of SuperAgers. Are these same neurons particularly vulnerable in those with Alzheimer's disease, and if so, how and why? CNN: What have you learned from your research about how the brain of a SuperAger reacts to injury, disease and stress? Gefen: We're looking at the inflammatory system in the brain of SuperAgers, with the goal of understanding how the immune cells in their brain respond to disease and adapt to stress. Inflammation, once it crosses a certain threshold, is a major component of cell loss in Alzheimer's disease and nearly all other neurodegenerative diseases. Compared with the brain of same-age peers, SuperAgers have fewer activated microglia, the resident immune cells of the brain, in their white matter. White matter is the brain's super highway, transporting information from one part of the brain to another. Here's how it works: Microglia are activated because there is some kind of antigen or disease, typically something destructive in the brain. In some cases, however, microglia and other immune cells become hyperactive and go into overdrive, thus causing inflammation and possible damage. The brain of a SuperAger, however, has fewer activated microglia. In fact, the levels of microglia were on par with people in their 30s, 40s and 50s. That could mean there is less junk or disease in the brain of a SuperAger so the microglia have no need to be active. Or it could mean microglia are responding efficiently to in clearing out disease or toxins, and because they are more plastic and adaptable, the microglia are able to activate, respond and then calm down. All of this is fascinating — it may be that at the cellular level, the immune system of a SuperAger brain could be stronger or more adaptive, much like the layers of cells we found in the entorhinal cortex. CNN: Whether or not you were born with the right genes to protect your brain sounds like the luck of the draw. What does that mean for the future? Gefen: Genetics are tricky. It's not just whether you have a gene or not, it about how your internal and external environment works together to influence how a gene is 'turned on,' or expressed — some may be more highly expressed, some will have lower expression. This is the epigenetic part of the puzzle. There is a list of candidate genes that we are starting to study very carefully, these are genes that also have a role in aspects of longevity, senescence, cell repair and cognitive reserve to name a few. I'm excited about that, not only for the genetics that are heritable from parents, but also genetics at the cell level, that enable each neuron or immune cell to carry out its respective job within the brain. With the technology that's advancing so rapidly, I'm certain we're going to get to a point where prevention or modification at the genetic level will be part of the playbook. Clearly, there is not a one target resolution for Alzheimer's disease. I know we all want that one easy fix but it's just simply not going to happen. It's going to take many teams and many specialists to come together and create a kind of personalized cocktail for prevention or treatment. I think it's possible, but it's going to take time. Solve the daily Crossword
Bloomberg
33 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
Eli Lilly's Experimental Weight-Loss Pill Data Disappoints
A new, late-stage clinical study shows disappointing results for Eli Lilly's weight loss pill Orforglipron. The experimental drug has less success than its injectable counterparts like Zepbound, Wegovy, and Ozempic. (Source: Bloomberg)
