Illumina, a leading maker of gene-sequencing machines, announced on Sunday that it will sell cancer test developer Grail, which it bought for $7.1 billion in 2021. The case was seen by antitrust experts as a test of regulators' efforts to prevent large companies from buying up new innovators. San Diego-based Illumina had previously said publicly that it would sell the start-up if it was unsuccessful in an appeal in any jurisdiction. Grail, which has created technology for early detection of certain cancers, began as a research project within Illumina. Although it does not compete with Illumina in gene sequencing, it does use gene sequencing in its blood testing for cancer.

Source: New York Times December 18, 2023 00:29 UTC