WASHINGTON—The Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit Tuesday that seeks to block Illumina Inc.’sof a developer of a long-sought blood test that promises to detect cancer early.
The case sets up a major test for U.S. antitrust enforcement because Illumina’s proposed acquisition of Grail Inc. is a vertical merger of companies that don’t compete head-to-head. Most merger lawsuits involve challenges to so-called horizontal deals that involve the combination of direct rivals. There has only been one litigated challenge to a vertical merger in more than 40 years: the Justice Department’s 2017 case
Total bull-shit. Vertical organization too? In the name of competition! Illumina started this venture, Grail and own 15% of it. Just let other pioneers to R &D new tests for cancer then discriminate this genuine business acquisition.
And yet they let Google, Amazon and Facebook buy whoever they want!