Ravgen Inc.’s patent litigation strategy could add another $100 million to the company’s coffers, assuming enhanced damages in its suit against Laboratory Corp. of American Holdings (Labcorp) awarded on May 12 are sustained on appeal. The additional damages are on top of the $272.5 million awarded in September for “egregious” violations of Ravgen’s patents on non-invasive prenatal testing methods.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a final order in connection with the proposed reacquisition of Grail Inc. by Illumina Inc., in an action that might seem to finally conclude a matter that has stretched over several years. However, the FTC acknowledged that Illumina has 60 days to petition the order, which Illumina said it intends to do in conjunction with an effort to overturn a similarly adverse outcome in the EU.
Illumina Inc. released Connected Insights in a beta version for the U.S., following its commercial release in other selected countries. Connected Insights, an assay-agnostic, cloud-based software designed to streamline interpretation and reporting across next-generation sequencing (NGS) types, was initially developed for somatic oncology applications, the system will shortly also support whole genome sequencing for rare diseases.
From Carl Icahn’s point of view, Illumina Inc.’s desired reintegration of its former spinoff is more a poisoned chalice than a holy Grail. In his opening salvo to a proxy fight, Icahn published an open letter March 13 to other Illumina shareholders referencing the “extreme displeasure” of investors with Illumina’s “reckless” determination to acquire Grail Inc., despite European regulators’ strong opposition to the deal.
Dxcover Ltd. raised $9.25 million (£7.5 million) in a series A fundraising round and received a grant of $2.7 million (£2.2 million) from the European Innovation Council to support development of the company’s liquid biopsy platform for the detection of multiple early-stage cancers. Existing investors Eos Advisory LLP, Mercia Asset Management plc, Scottish Enterprise, University of Strathclyde, SIS Ventures and Norcliffe Capital led the round, which was also joined by Mark Banforth of Thairm Bio.
Burning Rock Biotech Ltd.’s share price flared up on Tuesday morning on news of U.S. FDA breakthrough device designation for its Overc multi-cancer detection blood test (MCDBT). The stock closed on Dec. 30, 2022, at $2.26 and rose sharply on the announcement to open at $2.89. By the end of the day, however, the stock had sunk to $2.15.
The latest U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) hearing on the merger between Illumina Inc., and Grail Inc., highlighted some sharp disagreements over the impact of the transaction on the market for multi-cancer early detection (MCED) tests, but Illumina has vowed to take steps to blunt any such effects in an open offer.
Sema4 Holdings Corp., Illumina Inc. and Pear Therapeutics Inc. joined a growing list of med-tech companies responding to what Pear CEO Corey McCann called a “challenging macroenvironment” by spinning off, selling or shuttering non-core lines of business and slimming payroll.
A subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee met recently to review the current state of antitrust enforcement in the U.S., and heard from both the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) about their enforcement activities. FTC chairwoman Lina Khan acknowledged that the agency had coordinated with the European Commission about the transaction between Illumina Inc., and Grail Inc., activities which she claimed were nothing more than an attempt to promote regulatory efficiency.
Thirteen months after Illumina Inc. and Grail Inc. merged, prior to regulatory approval, the deal has taken a turn for the worse. The prognosis looked better following an administrative law judge’s ruling Sept. 1 against the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s lawsuit seeking to block the transaction, but the European Commission (EC) issued a decision Sept. 6 prohibiting the deal based on the likelihood that a merger would stifle innovation and limit choices in the early cancer detection liquid biopsy market.
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