European Union regulators ordered Illumina to divest Grail. Illumina is appealing antitrust findings in Europe and the U.S., but the DNA sequencing giant revealed that divesting all or part of Grail is an option even if it wins both legal challenges.

Illumina must pay a €432 million fine for closing its Grail acquisition before the European Commission finished its inquiry into the tie-up. The penalty is the maximum amount the regulator can impose on a company for breaching European merger rules.

The Federal Trade Commission has ordered Illumina to divest Grail, the liquid biopsy company it acquired for more than $7 billion. The agency said Illumina’s proposed remedies are insufficient and the tie-up is likely to reduce competition in the R&D and commercialization of new cancer tests.

On the first day of American Society of Human Genetics meeting, PacBio rolls out new long and short-read sequencers…music group Maroon 5.

DNA sequencing power house Illumina sued liquid biopsy company Guardant Health, whose founders used to work for Illumina, claiming the two stole information from Illumina to file patents for Guardant. Illumina alleges that one of the executives misappropriated confidential information while he was still on Illumina’s payroll.

Genetic tests are becoming available for a wider range of applications. During a CB Insights panel discussion, Phil Febbo of Illumina and Alicia Zhou of Color explained what they think needs to happen to make these tests accessible and affordable for more people.

In closing its Grail acquisition before U.S. and European regulators sign off, Illumina is taking a chance the deal will pass regulatory muster. It’s a potentially pricey gambit, as Illumina could face fines for its early action and there are no assurances that regulators will agree that the deal is not anticompetitive.

The Federal Trade Commission and the European Union are reviewing the soundness of this acquisition. But if Illumina acquires Grail, the company that it spawned back in January 2016, will it squeeze the nascent liquid biopsy market?

The Federal Trade Commission is opposing Illumina’s proposed $7.1 billion Grail acquisition, arguing that it will reduce competition for multi-cancer early detection tests. Illumina disagrees with the regulator’s position and will oppose the FTC’s challenge.

Read about news from healthcare startups Carrum Health, Turing, and new companies in the Illumina Accelerator program.

The two companies are working together to detect instances of the more contagious B.1.1.7 variant in the U.S. After Colorado identified the first case in the U.S. on Dec. 28, more than 60 cases have since been found across the country.

Following years of research and investment, liquid biopsies are steadily accumulating FDA approvals. The tests are being used in molecular profiling of solid tumors and as companion diagnostics for targeted cancer therapies.

Illumina originally spun off Grail in early 2017. Grail plans to launch its test for early detection of cancers, Galleri, next year. Illumina already owns 14.5% of the company, which it started in 2016.

What needs to happen to facilitate data sharing, ensure access to genome sequencing and promising personalized therapies?

The DNA testing company confirmed on Thursday that it would lay off about 100 employees. The restructuring was a result of slowing consumer demand.

Separately, the next-generation sequencing manufacturer will also work with Genomics England to sequence up to 300,000 people over the next five years.

The Federal Trade Commission had accused Illumina of seeking to monopolize the market for next-generation sequencing in its effort to acquire Pacific Biosciences, originally announced in November 2018.

Federal regulators said they would seek to block the acquisition deal amid concerns that Illumina was seeking to eliminate PacBio as a competitor in the next-generation sequencing space.

The company’s valuation has declined 80 percent, from a $1.6 billion peak to $310 million, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The $8 per share deal will allow Illumina to tap into the long-read sequencing market, while also heading off competition from other firms, analyst writes.

In January 2016, Independence Blue Cross and NantHealth announced the nation’s first coverage for a whole genome sequencing and proteome molecular diagnostic platform, but it’s mostly slipped under the radar since then. What’s going on?

The company plans to bring NGS to health systems lacking the ability to perform it internally.

Next-generation sequencing firm plans to present data on its gargantuan genomics study at ASCO next month.

Helix and Illumina Accelerator have paired up and will give entrepreneurs the chance to develop innovative, DNA-driven products geared toward consumers.

Illumina spin-out Grail revealed Wednesday that Jeff Huber is stepping down as CEO of the billion-dollar early cancer detection startup.

The results of the study will serve as a baseline measure for detecting breast cancer in the blood and inform the development of Grail’s pan-cancer screening test.

With a billion dollars in private financing and a test projected to generate a terabyte of data per person, Grail has seeded a new category of diagnostics and Big Data. Despite this, the company story shared by CEO Jeff Huber is mostly about people.

This was but one of several pieces of news the Amsterdam-based technology company discussed Monday at HIMSS17.

The leader of the sequencing world is ticking over nicely with sales and revenue, according to Tuesday’s earnings call. But what’s happening behind the scenes? Here we take a look at five trends shaping the future of the company.

Bio-Rad Laboratories has had a busy few weeks, launching a single-cell sequencing system with Illumina and acquiring a major competitor in the digital PCR space, RainDance Technologies. The activity positions the research tools provider for several trends on the horizon, including liquid biopsy.