In the latest development in a two-year, high-stakes legal battle, the European Commission has ordered U.S. biotech company Illumina to sell a startup it acquired in 2021 while EU antitrust officials were still scrutinizing the $8 billion deal over competition concerns. 

Illumina acquired Grail, a U.S.-based startup that develops blood-based early cancer detection tests, while the Commission’s investigation was ongoing, in violation of EU merger control rules. The EU’s investigation concluded with a merger veto from officials in 2022.