Illumina Fights U.S. Bid to Unwind $8 Billion Grail Takeover

U.S. antitrust officials kicked off their effort to unwind Illumina Inc.’s $8 billion acquisition of Grail Inc., saying the deal will impede the development of life-saving cancer-detection tests.

The deal, a combination of gene-sequencing giant Illumina and its former spinout, will mean less innovation and fewer choices for patients, the Federal Trade Commission argued as its lawsuit against the purchase went to trial in its in-house administrative court Tuesday.

“This acquisition ensures that American patients will not have the benefit of innovation by companies all looking to develop better” cancer-screening tests, said FTC lawyer Susan Musser in her ...