Biotechnology company Illumina has announced the completion of its spin-off of cancer test-maker Grail, which is now an independent entity.

The separation from Grail was achieved by distributing 85.5% of Grail's shares to Illumina's shareholders.

Each Illumina shareholder received one Grail share for every six Illumina shares owned, while still keeping their Illumina shares.

Post-divestiture, Illumina owns 14.5% of the outstanding shares of common stock in Grail.

Illumina CEO Jacob Thaysen said: “With the completion of the spin-off of Grail, we have achieved our goal of divesting Grail in a manner that allows its breakthrough technology to continue benefitting patients.

“Grail plays a critical role in the fight against cancer, and while the company is no longer part of Illumina, we remain confident in its future and will continue to support Grail with our sequencing technology, end-to-end workflows and suite of services.”

In April 2024, the European Commission approved Illumina's divestment plan for Grail, in accordance with the EU Merger Regulation.

This decision aligns with the Commission's directive from October 2023, which required Illumina to reverse its acquisition of GRAIL to restore competition levels to their state prior to the transaction.

The initial blockage of Illumina's acquisition of Grail by the Commission in September 2022 was due to concerns over potential harm to innovation and reduced choice in the emerging market for blood-based early cancer detection tests.

Despite the ongoing investigation by the Commission, Illumina and GRAIL completed the merger, which was deemed unlawful and resulted in fines for both companies in July 2023.

As a result of the Commission's directive in October 2023, Illumina was compelled to submit a divestment proposal, which has now been approved.

The approval allows Illumina to proceed with the divestiture through either a trade sale or a capital markets transaction.