McKesson Ventures

Illumina to Acquire GRAIL to Launch New Era of Cancer Detection

by | Sep 28, 2020 | Portfolio News

GRAIL and Illumina have entered into a definitive agreement under which Illumina will acquire GRAIL for cash and stock consideration of $8 billion upon closing of the transaction. In addition, GRAIL stockholders will receive future payments representing a tiered single-digit percentage of certain GRAIL-related revenues. The agreement has been approved by the Boards of Directors of both companies.

“Over the last four years, GRAIL’s talented team has made exceptional progress in developing the technology and clinical data required to launch the Galleri™ multi-cancer screening test. Galleri is among the most promising new tools in the fight against cancer, and we are thrilled to welcome GRAIL back to Illumina to help transform cancer care using genomics and our NGS platform,” said Illumina President and CEO Francis deSouza. “Together, we have an important opportunity to introduce routine and broadly available blood-based screening that enables early cancer detection when treatment can be more effective and less costly … As we accelerate our path to clinical leadership and the path to multi-cancer early detection, we will continue to drive significant value creation for our stockholders.”

“Cancer is one of society’s most significant challenges, with most cancer being detected too late. We believe multi-cancer early detection technology could address a tremendous unmet need and reduce the cancer burden worldwide,” said Hans Bishop, chief executive officer of GRAIL. “Combining forces with Illumina enables broader and faster adoption of GRAIL’s innovative, multi-cancer early detection blood test, enhancing patient access and expanding global reach. We are excited about this next step in our journey to transform cancer detection and outcomes.”

The strategic benefits of the partnership are that it increases Illumina’s directly accessible total addressable market and offers multiple future growth opportunities, accelerates adoption of GRAIL’s multi-cancer detection test to reach more patients faster, and enhances Illumina’s position in clinical genomics.

Illumina expects to close the transaction in the second half of 2021. Following completion of the transaction, GRAIL will operate as a standalone division within Illumina with a dedicated leadership team to ensure continuation of GRAIL’s success.

Read the full press release here.

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