Labcorp agrees to buy BioReference testing businesses for up to $872m

Labcorp has agreed to buy a set of laboratory testing businesses from BioReference Health, a subsidiary of Opko Health, for $722 million upfront plus up to $150 million more linked to revenue from a prostate cancer blood test, the companies said on 15 October 2026¹. The final price can move with revenues at closing¹.

What Labcorp is buying

The package covers clinical and women's health testing, urology, and diagnostic services sold to correctional institutions¹. It also brings more than 80 patient service centres into Labcorp's network¹. The asset analysts singled out is 4Kscore, a blood test with Food and Drug Administration approval to help predict the likelihood of finding aggressive prostate cancer before a decision on biopsy¹.

Labcorp expects the businesses to add about $250 million of revenue in the first year after closing¹. The deal follows Labcorp's purchase of BioReference's oncology testing businesses last year for up to $225 million, which added about $85 million to $100 million of annual revenue¹.

What it means for the market

For diagnostics investors, the transaction is a bet on specialty testing rather than routine volume. Evercore ISI analysts said it fits Labcorp's strategy of growing in higher-growth specialty tests, and wrote that "4Kscore adds a differentiated asset with an opportunity for broader distribution rather than simply more routine testing volume"¹. William Blair analysts called 4Kscore a "particularly compelling asset" with room for wider adoption, saying it could help pick out patients for further evaluation and avoid unnecessary biopsies¹.

The commercial logic rests on scale. BioReference has mostly sold testing in New York and New Jersey¹. Evercore ISI expects Labcorp to use its infrastructure to improve the economics of the regional business and its national sales reach to widen use of 4Kscore¹. Up to $150 million of the price depends on 4Kscore revenue¹.

For Opko, the sale completes a retreat from lab services. Its chief executive, Phillip Frost, said the deal lets the company streamline operations and concentrate resources on its biopharmaceutical business¹.

Caveats

The deal still needs regulatory approval, and the two companies will run independently, with no change to operations or services, until it closes¹. The revenue estimate is Labcorp's own expectation, and the earn-out means the full $872 million is paid only if 4Kscore revenue targets are met¹.