Yesterday, the European Commission accepted the request from the Competition Authority, and similar requests from the competition authorities in Belgium, France, Greece, the Netherlands and Norway, to take the merger of Illumina and Grail into consideration. They are biotechnology companies that specialise, among other things, in the field of cancer screening.
The reason for the proposed investigation is concerns from competition authorities, e.g. a.m. of the Icelandic, that the merger could have competitively negative effects, which could lead to higher prices, reduced quality or less innovation in important markets relating to cancer screening.
Páll Gunnar Pálsson, CEO: „It is very important that competition barriers do not result in increased costs or delay the development of new methods in the fight against serious diseases. The Competition Authority recently blocked a merger of imaging companies with this in mind. In this case, the authority is exercising its powers in European cooperation, guided by the same objectives.“
The matter is of interest, inter alia, because the merger of the companies is not subject to notification in the aforementioned states or to the European Commission, as the turnover thresholds are not met.
Although the start-up company Grail's turnover does not meet the turnover thresholds in question, the company is developing technology and products that may hold great potential and offer important features for cancer research and screening. These potentials appear to be reflected, to some extent, in the purchase price, as the biotechnology company Illumina is paying approximately 8 billion USD for the company. It is therefore a market merger that is important for Icelanders.
Based on the EEA Agreement, the Competition Authority requested that the European Commission examine the merger between Illumina and Grail. The European Commission has now publicly announced that it intends to examine the potential competitive effects of the merger, including on the basis of the request from the Competition Authority. The Commission has also recently published guidance on how such a referral procedure works. available here.
The merger of the companies will also be investigated in countries outside Europe, as US competition authorities recently announced that they intend to examine the merger and its effects further.
Further information about the merger can be found below:
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