Europe's antitrust regulator on Tuesday moved to block San Diego's Illumina from acquiring Grail — one week after a U.S. administrative law judge found that the blockbuster $7.1 billion merger should be allowed to stand.
This latest twist in Illumina's high-stakes bid to reunite with Grail highlights the ongoing battles over how antitrust laws should apply to acquisitions of technologies that aren't big yet but could be someday.
With a single blood test, Grail's Galleri can screen asymptomatic patients for more than 50 types of cancer, many of which have no other form of screening and are often caught too late to treat.
