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cover of episode How a big biotech’s start-up gamble went wrong

How a big biotech’s start-up gamble went wrong

2023/6/28
logo of podcast Behind the Money

Behind the Money

Shownotes Transcript

Illumina, the world’s biggest gene sequencing company, announced plans to buy cancer detection start-up Grail for $8bn while the biotech boom was in full swing. To Illumina, Grail looked like a potential gold mine. Until reality — and regulators — entered the picture. Three years and an activist investor campaign waged by Carl Icahn later, the FT’s US pharmaceutical correspondent Jamie Smyth explains the problems that have cropped up and what it means for both companies and their shareholders. 

Clips from Illumina Inc / Seeking Alpha, Yahoo

For further reading:

Carl Icahn takes aim at genome sequencer Illumina over Grail deal)

Has Illumina taken the wrong path in its Grail quest?)

Quick blood tests to spot cancer: will they help or harm patients?

On Twitter, follow Jamie Smyth (@JamieSmythF)) and Michela Tindera (@mtindera07))

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy) for more information.