SAN DIEGO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ: ILMN), today announced that it disagrees with the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Competition’s decision to review Illumina’s acquisition of GRAIL, a company founded to accelerate early screening of cancer. Illumina will continue to work with the Directorate-General to bring the investigation to conclusion. Illumina remains committed to the transaction, the impact of which would accelerate the adoption of a multi-cancer early detection blood test.
“Reuniting GRAIL and Illumina will allow us to bring GRAIL’s breakthrough early detection multi-cancer test to patients across the world faster and consequently save lives,” said Francis deSouza, Chief Executive Officer of Illumina. “We do not believe that the European authorities have jurisdiction to review the GRAIL acquisition and look forward to resolving this matter expeditiously.”
Illumina originally founded GRAIL five years ago and the two companies do not compete in any way. In reuniting the two organizations, Illumina will leverage its global scale of manufacturing and clinical capabilities, as well as its global regulatory and reimbursement expertise, to bring early-stage, multi-cancer testing to patients more quickly and more affordably, resulting in more lives being saved.
Illumina strongly believes that acquiring GRAIL is in the best interest of patients, is procompetitive, and benefits the multi-cancer early detection field as a whole. Together with GRAIL, Illumina looks forward to changing the course of cancer detection and treatment.
About Illumina
Illumina is improving human health by unlocking the power of the genome. Our focus on innovation has established us as the global leader in DNA sequencing and array-based technologies, serving customers in the research, clinical, and applied markets. Our products are used for applications in the life sciences, oncology, reproductive health, agriculture, and other emerging segments. To learn more, visit www.illumina.com and connect with us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube.
Use of forward-looking statements This release may contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Among the important factors to which our business is subject that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations or guidance contained in any forward-looking statements are: (i) changes in the rate of growth in the markets we serve; (ii) the volume, timing and mix of customer orders among our products and services; (iii) the outcome of the pending acquisition of GRAIL, Inc.; (iv) challenges inherent in developing, manufacturing, and launching new products and services; (v) our ability to obtain regulatory clearance for our products from government agencies, together with other factors detailed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our most recent filings on Forms 10-K and 10-Q, or in information disclosed in public conference calls, the date and time of which are released beforehand. We undertake no obligation, and do not intend, to update these forward-looking statements, to review or confirm analysts’ expectations, or to provide interim reports or updates on the progress of the current quarter.