MADISON, Wis. - Exact Sciences will expand at University Research Park and will not expand at Judge Doyle Square.

CEO Kevin Conroy said the chance to bring the Exact Sciences campus downtown was "appealing" but says it was a "prudent decision" to consolidate at University Research Park.

"I do not believe we could have achieved what we have in any other state or city," Conroy said.

Exact Sciences will keep its headquarters at University Research Park. Conroy said he can't guarantee the number of jobs that will be created at the new facility, but he said he hopes it will be more than 300 over a number of years.

Madison Mayor Paul Soglin said he will recommend to the council that three Judge Doyle Square proposals submitted in May be updated and considered by the city. Soglin thanked the city council for "working in such a challenging environment on this issue."

Soglin asked the company to respond to concerns about a plan to move jobs downtown in light of the company's drop in stock value. The company's stock value dropped in early October after investors learned that the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force issued draft recommendations about colorectal screenings, suggesting Exact Sciences' at-home, DNA-based colon cancer test, called Cologuard, be used as an "alternative screening test" instead of a "recommended" test.

Soglin had asked for a response by last week to his questions about the potential impact on the Judge Doyle Square project, including whether Exact Sciences plans to appeal the USPSTF recommendation, if the company still plans to locate its headquarters at the JDS facility and whether the expected number of people it plans to hire has changed.

The deadline for a response was extended to Monday.

Exact Sciences currently employs 425 people in Madison.

NEXT STEPS

Now that Exact Sciences will not be the centerpiece of JDS, the discussion has turned back to building a hotel for Monona Terrace, and the developers that submitted proposals in May have been invited back to the table.

"They have now had the opportunity of listening to all the discussion and reading each other's proposals, so they may want to make changes to those and come back," Madison alder Mark Clear said.

Most of the plans also include rebuilding the Government East Parking Garage.

Two Chicago companies and Madison's Urban Land Interests submitted proposals in May.