Illumina Ordered by FTC to Unwind Grail Purchase From 2021 (1)

Illumina Inc.’s was ordered to unwind its $7 billion acquisition of cancer startup Grail by the Federal Trade Commission, an uncommon move by antitrust regulators who said the deal raises competition concerns for cancer testing.

The FTC’s 4-0 decision announced Monday overturned an earlier ruling by its in-house judge who found last year that the tie-up wouldn’t harm innovation in the market for early-stage cancer detection.

Illumina plans to appeal the FTC’s decision, according to a statement. The shares fell 1.5% as of 12:23 p.m. in New York.

Grail was spun off from DNA-sequencing giant Illumina in 2016 ...