Natera Presents Largest Lung Cancer MRD Dataset at IASLC 2026

S&P Global agreed to acquire on-chain security assessments platform OpenZeppelin, one of a series of deals reported across sectors this week. Pearson announced the acquisition of ITS, a Baltimore-based assessment technology provider specializing in the management, delivery, and reporting of testing programs, with financial terms not disclosed. GE HealthCare Technologies is in advanced talks to acquire Sofie Biosciences for about $1 billion, a move that would expand its presence in radioactive diagnostic agents used with medical scans, according to the Financial Times. Brookfield agreed to acquire plumbing products manufacturer Reliance Worldwide for about $2.9B in an all-cash deal, valuing Reliance at $3.38 per share, equivalent to A$4.75 per share, a roughly 32% premium to its August 17 closing price. Mistras Group agreed to be acquired by investment firm H.I.G. Capital in an all-cash deal with an $866M enterprise value, including debt, while Aethlon Medical shares soared 346% premarket after it agreed to an all-stock merger with North Immunology, and Reuters reported that state-owned China Rare Earth Group is in talks to acquire Shenghe Resources.

Tempus AI is building a research platform based on 100,000 whole genomes linked to long term clinical records, a project that follows its $1.5 billion acquisition of Personalis. The Personalis deal strengthens Tempus' position in molecular residual disease testing, expanding the company from diagnosing and selecting cancer treatments into monitoring patients for cancer recurrence. The new whole genome project arrives after a sharp run in the shares, with a 90 day share price return of 62.68% and a 7 day gain of 31.91%, though the 1 year total shareholder return shows an 11.79% decline. Tempus AI closed at $77.84 against a narrative fair value estimate of $75.68, a level at which 26 investors see the stock as 3% overvalued. The company still carries ongoing losses and meaningful debt, so any setback integrating Personalis could quickly challenge the upbeat narrative.

Agilent Technologies launched the Agilent S540MD, a slide scanner that holds up to 540 glass slides at once, in the United States on September 4, following its January debut in select European markets. The FDA-cleared scanner is built for high-volume pathology labs preparing for AI-assisted workflows, can be refilled while running, fits standard racks, and uses automated scan modes and tissue detection; Majken Nielsen, who runs Agilent's Clinical Diagnostics Division, framed it as a way to tie digitization to customers' staining workflows. The launch lands alongside Agilent's August 26 report of $1.88 billion in revenue for the quarter ended July 31, up 8.1% from a year earlier, with non-GAAP earnings per share up 18%, and management raised full-year non-GAAP earnings guidance to $6.18 to $6.21 per share. The S540MD is a rebadged Hamamatsu NanoZoomer S540MD, and Agilent offered no pricing, unit targets, or revenue estimate for it. Tariff refunds added $0.06 to non-GAAP earnings per share and feed into the raised outlook, while the fourth-quarter guide assumes no further refunds and calls for core revenue growth of 5.2% to 6.2%, down from 7.3% in the third quarter.