In Monday's unanimous decision, the board of Exact Sciences Corp - a company that develops technologies for detecting cancer - has rejected a buyout offer by Sequenom Inc, which offered $1.50 per share in stock for the proposed acquisition.

The shares of Exact Sciences rose more than 50 percent - or 51 cents - to $1.50 in trading on Monday, while the stock of Sequenom fell 3 percent - or 73 cents - to $22.29.

San Diego-based Sequenom, the genetic analysis product maker, said on Friday that it had offered $41 million for an all-stock acquisition deal with Exact Sciences, so as to push its cancer diagnostics offering. The company felt the cancer tests by Exact Sciences would fit fine with its MassArray genetic research systems and other DNA tests.

In a brief company statement, Exact Sciences said that it was in keen pursuit of a higher value "strategic alternative" for shareholders than the Sequenom deal. Without any further elaboration about what it was actually pursuing, the company's board simply said it believes the alternative would offer greater value to shareholders.