Illumina files registration statement for potential Grail divestiture

(Reuters) - Illumina said on Monday it had filed a registration statement with the U.S. securities regulator related to a potential divestiture of Grail, even as it challenges a European Union order to divest the cancer test maker in court.

Submission of the registration statement "is an important next step in evaluating divestiture options for GRAIL", Illumina said.

Illumina in October said it would divest Grail in 12 months, according to the terms of the European Commission's order, if the life sciences company does not win its challenge in court.

The $7.1 billion deal was opposed by EU antitrust regulators on concerns Illumina would have an incentive to stop Grail's rivals from accessing its technology to develop competing blood-based early cancer detection tests.

(Reporting by Manas Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)