The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is seeking to block Illumina Inc.’s $7.1 billion purchase of Grail Inc., claiming the deal will “diminish innovation in the U.S. market” for multicancer early detection (MCED) tests, which could be used to flag dozens of tumor types when they are still treatable. Illumina has vowed to “pursue all legal options” to complete its acquisition of Grail, arguing that it does not compete with Grail and is committed to providing “unfettered access” to its NGS technology.

By mid-January 2021, the U.K., South Africa and Brazil had confirmed that “variants of concern” were driving massive surges in COVID-19 cases in their countries. Once alerted, other nations found these troubling strains rapidly multiplying within their populations as well. At the time, the world had reported 90 million cases, creating abundant opportunities for the coronavirus to mutate. Of those cases, the virus in just 360,000 had been sequenced – and nearly all of them from just a handful of countries.

Illumina Inc. and Sequoia Capital China are collaborating to launch a startup ecosystem in China. The Sequoia Capital China Intelligent Healthcare Genomics Incubator, Powered by Illumina, will support life sciences startup companies in the field of genomics. Illumina for Startups will offer sequencing systems and reagents, lab space in China, and expertise. Sequoia Capital China will provide investment and business guidance.

Reports of multiple new variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus have emerged, raising questions about the efficacy of vaccines, but also regarding the utility of diagnostic and other tests. The U.S. FDA’s Tim Stenzel said single-target tests are thus at a greater risk of returning a false negative result, adding that these developers “should consider this carefully” in surveillance of their tests.

The U.S. FDA is actively working on guidance for conversion of emergency use authorizations (EUAs) to conventional premarket review programs, but the FDA’s Tim Stenzel said he does “not perceive a need to rush to convert EUAs” because of the volume of EUA applications, and because he does not expect the public health emergency “to end anytime soon.”

PERTH, Australia – Australia is employing some new genomic tools to help identify SARS-CoV-2 infections and track them within communities. Illumina Inc. and the University of Melbourne have partnered to establish the Illumina-University of Melbourne Genomics Hub – a first for the Asia-Pacific region – which will bring together the best of genomic expertise and technology in Australia.

PERTH, Australia – Australia is employing some new genomic tools to help identify SARS-CoV-2 infections and track them within communities. Illumina Inc. and the University of Melbourne have partnered to establish the Illumina-University of Melbourne Genomics Hub – a first for the Asia-Pacific region – which will bring together the best of genomic expertise and technology in Australia.

Illumina Inc. crushed analysts’ estimates for the third quarter, posting revenue of $794 million vs. the Street consensus of $716 million. Driving results were sequencing consumables, which racked up $500 million in the period, with clinical sequencing hitting 96% of pre-COVID-19 levels, up from 84% in the second quarter.

PERTH, Australia – Australian public health laboratories are collaborating to sequence the virus genomes of all positive COVID-19 tests in Australia to track the virus using genomics across the country. The Communicable Disease Genomics Network (CDGN) and Illumina Inc. will track COVID-19 by using next-generation genomic sequencing technology.