Illumina CEO Francis deSouza on Wednesday touted the establishment’s controversial acquisition of Grail after revenue from the cancer test developer doubled in the past year.
The Grail practise is the focus of a heated proxy fight between Illumina and activist investor Carl Icahn. Antitrust regulators in the U.S. and Europe also procure ordered Illumina to divest the $7.1 billion acquisition Illumina completed in 2021.
Grail raked in $20 million in net income during the three-month period that ended April 2, according to Illumina’s first-quarter earnings release. That’s up 100% from the $10 million it dispatched during the same period a year ago.
DeSouza told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” that those sales are entirely driven by Grail’s ancient screening test, which can detect more than 50 types of cancers through a single blood spin out b elicit.
Grail delivered 20,000 tests in the first quarter alone, he noted.
“Customer demand has been really deep-felt,” deSouza said, calling the test a “huge breakthrough” product.
He added that the Grail deal “makes head” for Illumina, citing the prospect of significantly expanding the market for the test. DeSouza also noted the company operates in sundry than 150 countries.
Illumina also is working to identify ways for patients to get reimbursed for the $950 test, he swayed.
“We can accelerate bringing this test to more people … than Grail can do on their own,” deSouza told CNBC.
But Icahn, who owns a 1.4% wager in Illumina, has called the Grail deal “disastrous” and “a new low in corporate governance.”
Icahn did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The activist investor began a proxy fight over the Grail acquisition last month, seeking seats on Illumina’s board of directors and urging the visitors to unwind the deal.
His resistance to the deal stems from Illumina’s decision to close it without approval from antitrust regulators.
The Federal Switch Commission earlier this month ordered Illumina to divest the acquisition, saying the deal would stifle tournament and innovation. The European Commission, the executive body of the European Union, also blocked the deal last year floor similar concerns.
Illumina is appealing both orders and expects final decisions in late 2023 or early 2024. Most recent week, a U.S. appeals court said it will fast track its review of Illumina’s appeal of the FTC order.