Guardant buys MetaSight for $59M upfront to acquire blood test tech

Original from: Medtech Dive

Guardant Health has acquired MetaSight Diagnostics for $59 million in upfront cash to bolster its multi-disease detection pipeline, the company said Thursday. The deal includes up to $90 million in payments tied to future commercial performance and regulatory approvals.

MetaSight uses mass spectrometry multi-omics technology to find biomarkers associated with acute and chronic diseases in serum samples. Tests for colorectal cancer, an area of focus for Guardant, and liver disease-associated fibrosis were MetaSight’s two most advanced programs just before the acquisition.  

Israel-based MetaSight called itself a developer of liquid biopsy diagnostics, but its approach differed from those of other companies working on tests to detect disease in blood samples. Many liquid biopsies, including the Grail test that failed a key study last week and Guardant’s Shield, use next-generation sequencing to find signs of one or more tumor types in blood samples.  

MetaSight uses metabolomics, lipidomics and proteomics mass spectrometry technologies to develop tests for specific diseases, including conditions outside of oncology. The company’s pipeline includes myocardial infarction and diabetic kidney disease diagnostics alongside tests for tumors of the pancreas and lungs.

Guardant previously indicated its interest in expanding beyond cancer. At the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference last month, AmirAli Talasaz, co-CEO of Guardant, discussed how the company’s database has epigenomic signatures for liver, kidney, cardiovascular, neurodegenerative and autoimmune diseases in asymptomatic individuals.

MetaSight said its goal was to develop accurate, affordable and accessible disease diagnostics and monitoring. The company raised $8 million in 2024.

An analyst asked on an earnings call about the path to market and how MetaSight’s mass spectrometry approach fits with Guardant’s existing focus on NGS. Talasaz declined to provide more information, saying, “Let us make more progress, and we will talk about it at the right time.”

Talasaz was speaking after Guardant reported fourth-quarter revenue of $281.3 million, an increase of 39% year over year. The company forecast full-year sales of $1.25 billion to $1.28 billion for 2026, representing year-over-year growth of 27% to 30%.

Source: Guardant buys MetaSight for $59M upfront to acquire blood test tech