The European Commission (EC) today (July 12) announced the amount it has fined Illumina for its GRAL acquisition – around $480 million.
According to the EC’s statement, he fine was in response to San Diego-based Illumina implementing its merger with GRAIL “before approval by the Commission, in breach of EU merger control rules.”
Illumina has announced it plans to appeal the decision.
In the statement announcing the fine, the EC highlighted it had imposed its maximum fine of 10% of Illumina’s “aggregated turnover.”
“In setting the amount of the fines, the Commission considers the gravity of the infringement as well as the existence of mitigating or aggravating circumstances. The fine must also ensure a sufficiently dissuasive and deterrent effect,” the statement read.
Illumina first caught the scrutiny of the EC in July 2021 when it opened an investigation into the company’s acquisition of GRAIL – an Illumina spin-out company that makes non-invasive, liquid biopsy tests for cancer. Shortly after, in August 2021, Illumina announced it had completed its merger with GRAIL, buying the company for $7.1 billion.
A year later, in September 2022, the EC blocked the merger, saying it would have “significant anticompetitive effects, stifling innovation and reducing choice in the emerging market for blood-based early cancer detection tests.”
Because Illumina executed the merger, despite the ongoing investigation, the EC stated Illumina and GRAIL “intentionally breached the standstill obligation,” which is the action the commission cited for issuing the maximum fine.
In addition to challenging the fine, Illumina is already in the process of challenging the EC’s jurisdiction over the GRAIL acquisition. That challenge is currently before the European Court of Justice and if Illumina prevails, it will automatically negate the fine. A decision is expected later this year or early next year.
