Illumina Acquires Grail and Its Galleri Cancer Test for $8 Billion

DNA sequencing company Illumina has acquired Grail, a company it spun off four years ago that specializes in early detection of cancer, in a deal valued at $8 billion.

For now, Illumina said it will hold Grail as a separate company while the European Commission completes its regulatory review of the transaction — although the California-based company maintains it isn’t under the EU’s jurisdiction.

Illumina will be getting Grail’s Galleri blood test, which can detect 50 different cancers before patients are symptomatic. The merger will make the Galleri test more widely available, the company said.