Cravath Team Named “Litigators of the Week” by The Am Law Litigation Daily for Groundbreaking Antitrust Trial Win for Illumina in FTC’s Challenge to GRAIL Acquisition

On September 9, 2022, The Am Law Litigation Daily featured a Cravath team as “Litigators of the Week” for its representation of client Illumina, a leader in DNA sequencing technology, in an unprecedented antitrust trial win rejecting the FTC’s challenge to Illumina’s $8 billion acquisition of GRAIL, a cancer screening company which has developed a test that can detect over 50 cancers with a simple blood draw. The publication noted the significance of the victory, the first case in which a defendant has prevailed in a merger challenge before an FTC Administrative Law Judge.

In the Q&A feature, Cravath partners Christine A. Varney and David R. Marriott spoke about the Firm’s initial role representing Illumina on the transaction; the litigation team’s collaborative approach, which included focusing on the FTC strategy and leading the development of Illumina’s trial strategy; and serving as lead trial counsel, presenting opening and closing arguments and examining key trial witnesses from both sides. Key themes that emerged over the course of the trial included the transaction’s potential to accelerate the widespread adoption of a cancer screening test to save lives, and the speculative nature of the FTC’s case given no company besides GRAIL had a test on the market. Christine commented in the piece: “The team was able to put together an entire case from initial investigation to four-week trial within the span of less than a year. . .This could not have happened without the aid of the entire Cravath team and an incredibly talented in-house team at Illumina.”

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For more detail on the Firm’s representation, please click here to read the related website item.