Illumina may buy back Grail

September 17, 2020 By Chris Newmarker

Illumina (NSDQ:ILMN) may acquire Grail for more than $8 billion — four years after it spun out the cancer detection startup.

That’s according to a Bloomberg report out yesterday, which cited people familiar with the matter.

Analysts told Bloomberg that the acquisition would put Illumina — a giant in the DNA sequencing space — in direct competition with its customers. But the potential of Grail’s early cancer detection tech may be too good for Illumina to pass up.

Grail has been preparing for an IPO on the Nasdaq, where it would trade under the symbol GRAL. It plans to commercially launch its Galleri early cancer detection test next year.

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