Grail – A Pure-Play Stock For Cancer Blood Testing

Wasn’t even 48 hours ago that we were commenting on how one of Illumina’s big venture bets – Grail – didn’t seem to be doing much. And here we are today, poring over their S-1 filing as the Illumina-backed venture has just filed for an Initial Public Offering (IPO). Since we’re long Guardant (GH) given their leadership position in what’s looking to be a $54 billion potential market for cancer blood testing, we want to see what threat Grail poses to Guardant.

About Grail

Grail was formed within Illumina in 2015. In 2016, they received investments from third parties and began operating as a stand-alone company. The San Francisco startup ended up taking in $2 billion in disclosed funding to further their mission to detect cancer early, when it can be cured. Investors include Jeff Bezos, Sequoia, Johnson & Johnson, Bill Gates, and Illumina, the largest shareholder in Grai