From WisPolitics.com/WisBusiness.com …
— Exact Sciences contributes up to $7 billion to Wisconsin’s GDP, according to a new estimate from a UW-Madison think tank.
The Center for Research on the Wisconsin Economy yesterday issued a report on the diagnostics firm’s impact in the state. Since moving from Massachusetts to Madison in 2009, the business has grown from a 19-person team to more than 7,200 employees around the world, including 3,500 in Wisconsin alone.
Over the same period, its revenue has grown from $4.8 million to $3.2 billion last year. Much of its success is due to its Cologuard test, a non-invasive screening tool for colorectal cancer. The company has since expanded into other product lines, including its Cancerguard multi-cancer blood test.
Late last year, the company announced Abbott Laboratories would acquire Exact Sciences in a $23 billion deal.
While the report presents several ways to assess the company’s impact in the state, authors wrote the figure is “most plausibly” between $6 billion and $7 billion, accounting for as much as 2% of the state’s $354.4 billion GDP in 2024.
The report also emphasizes the firm’s ties to UW-Madison, noting its growth has been anchored by the university and the University Research Park in Madison. These have provided skilled workers, research infrastructure and a physical campus for the company, while it in turn has “deepened Madison’s life sciences ecosystem,” adding jobs across various sectors.
Authors say the role of the university and research park underscores the importance of such ties between higher education and industry.
“University-adjacent communities in the interior United States can nurture globally competitive biotech firms that generate large regional economic effects … a single high-growth firm can have an outsized impact on a regional economy,” they wrote.
Zach Brandon, president of the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce, says few organizations have had as significant an impact in the region.
“We are confident that with Abbott’s support, reach and resources, Exact Sciences will continue to attract top talent from across the globe, find innovative solutions to some of healthcare’s most complex challenges and play a pivotal role in our region’s thriving economy,” he said in a statement on the findings.
See the report.
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— Marquette University’s School of Dentistry has received a $2 million alumni donation from a 1969 graduate who went on to be an oral surgeon in Green Bay.
The Milwaukee university yesterday announed the donation from Michael Miskella and his wife, Rosaleen. It will establish the first endowed directorship at Wisconsin’s only dental school, which sees patients from across the state.
Miskella, who practiced as an oral surgeon in Green Bay for nearly 50 years, founded Bay Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery after completing his residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Surgeons in this specialty treat injuries, defects and diseases of the jaw, face and mouth.
In a statement on the donation, Miskella says his education at Marquette was “demanding but very fair,” and opened the door to a rewarding career.
“I have a strong desire to give back to Marquette, and my deep hope is that our gift may motivate others to step forward in support of the school,” he said.
See the release below.
— In the latest Dem radio address, Gov. Tony Evers says he was proud during this Women’s History Month to sign two bills that support women’s health.
The first bill expands postpartum Medicaid coverage from 60 days to one year for new mothers. The Dem governor also signed Gail’s Law, “which ensures that when additional screenings are needed to assess an individual’s risk of breast cancer, no patient is left behind.”
He says the system “failed” Gail Zeamer, a Wisconsin woman who died of cancer and for whom the bill is named.
“By making these changes, we’re ensuring no woman slips through the cracks because they weren’t able to afford additional tests not covered by insurance,” Evers says. “Now more than ever, we should be working to make healthcare more affordable and more accessible, not making it more expensive and harder for folks to get the care they need.”
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Press Releases
– Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce: Statement on Exact Sciences economic impact report
