A judge has ruled in favor of Illumina in its acquisition of Grail dealing a blow to the Us Federal Trade Commission’s efforts to unwind the multi-billion-dollar deal, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.
To appease the anti-competition watchdog while still continuing its quest for Grail, Illumina pledged at the time to guarantee long-term sequencing technology access to all its existing clinical oncology customers and to lower its prices by at least 40% within four years.
With this week’s win, the judge has shut down the FTC’s complaints and sided with Illumina, which claimed that the acquisition would in fact inspire its competitors to develop fast-moving cancer-spotting tests of their own.
“As we’ve stated from the outset, this transaction is procompetitive, will advance innovation, lower healthcare costs and save lives. We are pleased that, after considering the evidence, the [administrative law judge] has reached the same conclusion,” Charles Dadswell, Illumina’s general counsel, said in a company announcement Thursday.
