Paul Soglin, Mayor of Madison, Wisconsin, just extended the deadline for Exact Sciences to respond to the question of the company’s stock drop and its effect on the Madison city downtown building project.
The mayor’s office had just entered into final talks with Exact Sciences, maker of Cologuard, an at-home DNA-based colon cancer screening test, to remodel an area of downtown Madison. It would provide more than $46 million in public funds to help the company relocate to a different area. This may not after all be possible, since Exact Science’s stocks dropped dramatically, and the company has had nothing to say about the initial proposal.
Exact Science’s Stock Drop and its Effect on the James Doyle Square Project
In early October, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force issued a recommendation to Exact Sciences’ Cologuard, saying they should be used as an alternative to regular screening tests instead of a recommended one. After investors found out about this, stocks dropped to $8.11 from $18.53.
Mayor Soglin made an inquiry about the effect of the stock drop by this Wednesday through a letter, asking whether they plan to appeal to the recommendation, if it’s still planning to relocate its HQ, and whether the number of people to be hired has changed. The Mayor’s office has received no response.
Soglin announced that Wednesday, the company asked that the deadline be extended to Monday, and the request was approved. He decided to give the company more time to explain how his proposal will be affected by the stock drop. There’s no telling if the future could bring a lawsuit.
The Drop’s Effect on the Proposal Isn’t Known, But Closer Evaluation Could Be Helpful
The proposal, estimated at $200 million would provide about 400 jobs. It calls for purchase of the 250,000 sq ft HQ for Exact Sciences and 107,000 sq ft of expansion space, 1,250 parking spaces, a bicycle center, some commercial space as well as space for a 216-room hotel.
There was no further explanation attached to the statement, and it can be assumed that this is due to perhaps respect. Releasing this kind of information to the public, especially before the results Exact Sciences’ third quarter Earnings are announced, could cause the company further losses.
Questions about the project have come in all directions, and it is currently under strict evaluation due to these developments. This provides an opportunity, as officials declared, for the entire project to come under scrutiny and be improved. This has all been a matter of bad, or perhaps, good timing.
